Lost in Darkness
by plappermouth
Summary: My name is Kyra, Kyra Mist. I'm a child of Darkness, and my fate was sealed before I was born. Well technically I don't believe in fate...Oh and there's also this prophecy... "A ray of light from darkness born, To unveil a world forlorn, An heir to nations gone and lost, Reclaims the throne with final cost, A choice be made with fading breath, To bring to Gods an oath of death"
1. Chapter 1

**Plappermouth here. Ok guys I don't own Percy Jackson.. blablabla... that's all Rick Riordans... uhm I don't own Greek mythology either... if you're wondering why then.. well then I can't help you. Also this is not gonna stay traditional Percy Jackson. So if you like adventrues and stuff then please continue reading this. If you're a stickler and want everything to be perfectly aligned with the Books then, stop. But then I don't know wha the hell you're doing on a FAN FICTION site. I did that on purpose. It's FICTION. Not real. Therefore I get to do what the hell I want :D Understood? Cool :) So for those who weren't scared off by this : Enjoy.**

Hi, my name is Kyra. Kyra Mist. I am 18, in my last year of High School at American Fork High and I'm also a greek demi-god. Yes, you read that right. My hobbies include fencing, swimming, gymnastics, reading and track. Are you still on the demi-god thing? Well let me tell you, it's not as fun as it may sound. Well of course there are the aspects of having freakishly cool powers, being awesome with a sword and generally rocking at ass-kicking, but there's also some bad stuff. Monsters for example. Those suckers are a bitch! Seriously! Every time I turn around, one of those guys is out to get me. That's when those powers I spoke about come in handy. You see it all started on my 18th Birthday. Surprise! Wanna hear it? If not it's too bad, cuz you're in for the ride.

My head popped of my pillow at 8.20 am on my birthday, and the first thing I thought was: "Crap! I'm soooo late for school!", and so I was. Technically I lived with my mum, but she wasn't much of a mother. More a catatonic roommate… I jumped out of bed, quickly put on a black pair of jeans and a dark green t-shirt with the words YOUR FACE SUCKS written on it. Yeah not exactly classy, a remainder of my less… respectable years. I ran into the bathroom, brushed my teeth and flew out the door. Then I remembered that I'd forgotten my shoes.

"Crap,crap,crap,crap!" I sprinted back inside to see my mother standing there holding my black armyboots in her hands. I was so surprised to see her standing at all that I forgot that I was in a hurry. I gently reached out to grab them from her. "Thanks mum." I kept my voice neutral, trying not to upset her. She nodded and turned toward her room then stopped, turned around and looked at me.

"Is it your birthday?" Her voice was soft, dreamy and distant. I did everything in my power not to sound angry as I replied with a nod instead of the: You're the one who gave birth to me, shouldn't you know? That was burning on my tounge. "Happy Birthday." She turned around and went back into her room. I bit back the angry comment I wanted to shout after her and then suddenly remembered that I was late. "Crap,crap,crap!" I tucked on my shoes and fled out the door and onto my bike.

I was super late. Of course. "Miss Mist. If you can't be bothered to show up on time then don't bother coming in here at all." Mrs. Rudolph, an elderly woman with hair pulled back so tightly, that I was convinced that it was the only thing keeping her wrinkly face from sliding right off the skull, was glaring at me, pointing towards the door. "Go to the principal." I hung my head, sighed and turned around. It was too bad; English Literature was the only class I actually enjoyed in this crappy school.

I was dyslexic, so I had a hard time reading, but I still loved it. I loved the stories, the tales and especially the myths. Of course to me they weren't really myths, but history lessons. Still I liked history too, as long as it wasn't exclusively about the United States. I put my hands in my pockets and reluctantly walked towards the director's office.

The principal was a short blonde woman, with as much sense of humour as a seasick crocodile and just as much of a range in facial expressions. We had this odd relationship. I told her I was sorry and she'd tell me that I was a worthless little pain in her behind and that I was only still in the school because my Grandparents paid for me.

My grandparents were stinking rich and used that money to keep as much distance from my Mother and I and still seem like concerned family members. That my mom's best friend was a wine bottle didn't seem to bother them too much. They just kept sending money to me so I wouldn't starve.

Now you guys already know that I'm a demi-god. I kinda started with that one, and maybe you've been assuming that I didn't know this yet on my 18th Birthday, but I did. I'd known for six years now, but I'd suspected for as long as I can remember.

You see my Dad is Erebos, God of darkness and shadows. Kinda lame, I know, but it has its perks. For one: I can see in the dark. For two? I can disappear into the shadows, which is awesome when you don't wanna be seen. I know, those aren't exactly overwhelming powers, but they were good enough for me and had come in handy more than once.

So there's my family: Grandparents who pay to keep me alive and at the same time as far away from them as possible, an alcoholic, catatonic Mother and a Greek-god as a Dad. Tadaaa! I doubted that I had the worst story in the history, but I was pretty sure it had to rank pretty high with weirdest?

Well it didn't matter. I was used to it. That was the reason why I did so much sports and why I'd taken up fencing. It came in pretty useful when you had to defend your life against a couple of monsters that were trying to eat you for dinner.

Slowly, hesitantly I knocked on the Principals door, hoping that she wasn't there. I was disappointed, of course. "Come in." I sighed and opened the door. "Miss Mist…again." Her voice made it clear that I was her absolute favourite person. Not! "Hello ." She motioned for me to come in and I did, praying that she wasn't going to tear my head off.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" If there were an award for using the maximum amount of sarcasm on only one word, she'd have gotten it for her 'pleasure'.

"I was late for English Literature."

"Again." I opened my mouth to say something, but she didn't let me.

"Sit down. We have matters to discuss."

I slowly sat down into the brown armchair she had opposite of her desk. It was uncomfortable low, making me seem shorter than her, although in reality I was at least half a head taller.

"You're in your Senior year am I right?" I nodded, trying not to roll my eyes. "To be frank with you? I do not know how you made it this far." Ouch. That hurt!

"Your grades are average, at best, your attendance even worse and do not let me get started on that attitude of yours. Miss Mist, you are expelled."

I jumped up. "What?! You can't do that!"

I was glaring down at her, but she just sat there, her hand neatly folded on the desk, looking at me.

"I can and I just did. We both know that it was just your grandparents' generous contributions to the school, which kept us from doing that. They have ceased to come in this year, and so we see no reason to keep you around any longer. You are expelled, now go clear out your locker."

She started sorting through some papers, while I still stood there, staring at her in disbelief. She couldn't be serious! I was so close! So close to being done with High School, so close to be free to go wherever I wanted. I balled my hand into fists and turned to leave when she suddenly said something.

"Oh and Happy Birthday."

I slammed the door shut on my way out.

I entered the hallway only to find a middle aged guy in a wheelchair waiting for me. "Oh no!" I said and stormed past him.

"No,no,no, no! This day has sucked enough already! I do NOT need you showing up here too."

I was pissed! This was exactly what I did not need just now. "Kyra wait!" Chiron called, but I just kept on walking, heading towards my locker. He followed me and I did my best to ignore him.

"Kyra. We need to talk."

I slammed my locker door open and started packing my few belongings into my backpack.

"No. We do not need to talk! I've said all I had to say to you five years ago. My opinion hasn't changed. I'm not coming to this blasted camp of yours and that's my final word."

I couldn't believe he was even asking me this.

"Things are different now. You know that."

His voice was kind and gentle, but I wasn't falling for that crap. So they'd won the war, big Deal. How did that change anything for me? I took a deep breath and turned to look him in the eyes. Even in his wheelchair he was tall, tall enough to look me straight in the eye.

"Chiron. That camp isn't for me. I wouldn't even have a home there, and besides, I need to stay." For my mother. He knew without me saying it that that's what I meant. I couldn't leave her, not in the state she was in. He gently put a hand on my shoulder.

"I know. But you're in danger. More now than ever. There's been a prophecy." I yanked my arm away. A prophecy? Was he freaking kidding me?! He dared to come to me about a prophecy, that was rich…

"You need to go", I said as coldly as I could.

"Kyra…" he tried, but I interrupted him. "Go."

I was close to tears now and I did not want him to see them, so I stuck my head in my locker, pretending to be looking for something. It was a lame disguise, my locker was empty, but I didn't care. When I closed my locker he was gone and I sighed in relief. The bell was about to ring and I didn't want to be there when it did. For the last time ever I walked out the doors of American Fork High School. Despite everything, it had still felt like home.

The worst of my day was yet to come. I hope you weren't expecting a happy tale, because it's not, or at least my past isn't. You see, despite everything that had, and was yet to happen on this day, it wasn't the worst birthday I had ever had. Not by a long shot. My worst birthday had been six years ago… But more of that later.

I knew something was off the second I walked in the door and smelled the scent of freshly baked bread. I hesitantly called out "Mom?" but there was no answer. I didn't even take off my shoes, I was too irritated, and walked into the kitchen. My mom was standing there, facing the wall, a knife in her hand, cutting carrots. She was wearing nice shoes, a floral print dress and her hair was in a neat bun.

I felt a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. She hadn't gotten dressed properly in six years, not unless I'd forced her too. I slowly walked up to her and tapped her shoulder. "Mom? Are you alright?"

She looked up and I took a step back when I saw her face. She'd put on make-up. Now I know, that shouldn't be a scary thing, but it was. It looked like it had been applied by a little child, clumsy, smeared and way too much. I felt my chest tighten as I looked into her dreamy eyes. She seemed distant, far away, and then she returned her gaze to the carrots and continued chopping them into little squares. I suddenly realized where this was going. The shoes, the dress, the carrots…. It felt like a sick reply of my birthday exactly six years ago.

She'd worn the same clothes, the same shoes, even the hairdo was the same! "Honey will you set the table? Did Caleb come home with you?" Even the same sentence. It was the first time she'd said his name in six years. "Mom, Caleb isn't coming home." I tried my best to sound calm as I fought the panic rising in my chest. This just couldn't be happening. It just couldn't!

She stopped chopping the carrots, her gaze fixed on the knife in her hand. "I don't understand" she said, "He's supposed to come home now."

I bit my lip, hard, trying to distract myself from the pain rising in my chest.

"Mom… Caleb is gone." Dead. That's what I meant, but I couldn't say it. Not to her.

She spun around so fast I barely had time to dodge the knife coming down at me.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BRING HIM HOME!"

She screamed and stabbed at me again, this time grazing my arm, leaving a long and bloody gash. I was too stunned to react. All I could think was: She's right.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT! WHY DIDN'T YOU BRING HIM HOME?"

She stabbed at me again, but this time my reflexes kicked in and took over, giving my numb mind a break. I spun and kicked the knife out of her hands then, as she attacked me with her bare hands, I grabbed her wrists and pinned them behind her back. She thrashed and screamed, calling me a murderer and I cried as I held her.

I don't know how long, but after a while she suddenly went limb. She had exhausted her tired and worn body, that hadn't been used to moving in six years. I gently carried her to the couch and put her down then I collapsed on the floor, sobbing, while memories flooded through me.

_A smile. A hug. Little hands. Colours. Candles. Laughter. Carrots. Chopping, chopping, chopping… silence. Fear. Fear. Fear. Silence. It was my fault, all my fault._

After what seemed like hours I got up from the floor and stretched my sore limbs. I suddenly knew with perfect clarity what I needed to do. I went to the phone and called my grandfather. We didn't get along, we didn't like each other, but we understood what had to be done. That was the only thing that had connected us in the last six years. We'd always understood what had to be done. And now I had to leave.

I went into my room and tore off my bloody t-shirt. I hadn't liked it that much anyways. I sloppily bandaged my arm, pulled on a black t-shirt with a viciously smiling grim reaper on it – it seemed fitting- and packed the bare necessities in my black backpack. I took one last look at the room that I knew I was leaving behind forever.

I didn't know what they were going to do with the house, sell it? , but I didn't care. This house hadn't been a home in a long time. Six years. The paramedics would arrive soon, but I wouldn't be around anymore when they came. I took one last look at my mother, sleeping peacefully on the couch, and left.

A flight from Salt Lake City to New York takes about five hours, roughly, but it took me about eight. And so I arrived in New York around 9.30 pm, local time. I was tired, hungry and in pain, when I finally arrived in the city. I planned to find a cheap motel to crash for the night and then head on to Camp Half-Blood in the morning. No sense trying to make it in the dark. Not because I minded it, after all Darkness was my father, but because monsters felt real cozy in it too, and I didn't need to make it too easy for them.

I was walking down the street when I suddenly was overwhelmed with a hunger so strong I got dizzy and dropped to my knees. I clutched my stomach, fighting the nausea that had come over me so suddenly. I hadn't eaten at all that day. Between being late, being expelled and my mother trying to murder me, I just hadn't found a good moment, but now I regretted that. My insides felt like they were trying to devour themselves, my limbs felt weak, my head was spinning.

Suddenly there was a shape in front of me, or maybe it had been there a while, I couldn't recall, I was too consumed by the pain in my insides. I looked up into the face of a man? A woman? I couldn't tell. Maybe because my vision was getting blurry.

It reached out towards me and I realized that this wasn't human, this was a monster and it was going to kill me, but I couldn't move. I was paralyzed by the hunger raging inside of me. The hunger was so powerful that I didn't even have room for fear. All I wanted was to eat.

The hand had almost reached me, when out of nowhere, a blade came crashing down on it, severing it from the monsters body. It let out a long shriek of agony as it turned towards its attacker. I looked too and was surprised to see a young man, little older than myself standing there with a bronze sword in one hand and a cheeseburger in the other.

Just as I was wondering if I was starting to hallucinate food he took a bite out of it. Oh my gods I wanted that burger! The monster seemed to want it too, because it lunged at the guy and I almost followed. I had never wanted anything more than that burger. The guy brought his sword down unto the monster and it exploded into yellow dust, covering both of us and sadly, the burger as well. The hunger in my insides ebbed away until it was bearable.

"Are you alright?", the guy asked me and looked down at me in concern. I nodded and looked at him, stopping short. He was HOT! Dark, messy hair and beautiful sea green eyes. Yummy! I instantly had a crush on him, and then scolded myself for it. Was I gonna fall for every hot guy who saved my life?

I slowly got up and brushed off the yellow dust. "Thanks." He was at least a head taller than me and I cursed my genes for my shortness. Shouldn't being a demi-god come with some awesome tallness? Apparently not. I held my hand out to him and he hesitantly shook it.

"I'm Kyra."

"Percy"

Ok. The name was super lame. I mean come on? Who named a guy that hot Percy? Seriously?

"So I take it you're a demi-god then?" I said and he nodded.

"How do you know?"

I laughed at that. How did I know? Hmm… maybe because he'd just killed a monster with a celestial bronze sword? Nah, that couldn't be it. I decided to go with a more simple answer.

"Cuz I am one too."

This seemed to surprise him. He looked me over and I blushed.

"How old are you?" I raised my eyebrow at him and it was his turn to blush.

"I mean because you look old, I mean older, I mean… " he stammered and I laughed. "I'm 18."

He looked like he wanted to say something more but I stopped him. "Can we get food? Cuz I'm still starving. You can ask me what you want then, as long as you answer some of my questions too." He looked surprised, but when I started walking towards the nearest McDonalds he followed.

After two cheeseburgers, one large cola and a bunch of fries, I was ready to talk. He'd just sat there quietly, watching me eat in bewilderment. It was true, for a girl my size I had quite the appetite.

"So what was that thing that attacked me?" I asked.

He shrugged, but answered anyway, which I found weird. I was willing to let it go because he was so hot though.

"A Limos. A hunger demon. They don't usually show up… They're kinda acient."

Aha. Yeah that explained why I'd wanted to eat my own face. I'd heard a lot about greek-mythology, but a Limos had never shown up or…

"Wait I thought that was a Goddess?" He raised his eyebrow and looked at me.

"Why ask me if you're the expert? Yeah Limos herself is a minor goddess, but her servants, the hunger demons, are called after her. "

"Wow. That's lame. I'd pissed too if I didn't have my own name."

He gave me a weird look and I decided to shut up.

"So what are you doing here?" Well the question had been bound to come up, so I sighed and answered.

"I'm on my way to Camp Half-Blood. Heard of it?" The question was serious, but my tone sounded mocking. Typicall me, unsure ? Just get sarcastic… Yup yup.

"Yeah. I'm a camper too."

Ok cool. So maybe he could get me there in one peace.

"Yeah I thought as much when I saw your awesome monster-dusting ability. What are you doing in NY then?"

He looked at the clock and sighed. "I live here… And my mom is gonna be pissed. I'm super late."

He lived here. With his mom. That sounded nice. Then again, maybe it wasn't? How would I know? "Oh ok… I guess you should go then", I said, knowing that I sounded disappointed.

I could see the wheels turning in that pretty head and then he finally said "You should come to. My mom won't mind, and I'd rather not have a newby like yourself running around alone. Who knows how many monsters you'd run into."

Yes! Master-manipulator Karen Mist strikes again! I did a little happy dance on the inside, while I smiled sweetly on the outside. "That would be great! Thanks! I'm kinda a monster magnet. Not sure why." I winked and he smiled at that.

Percy's mom, Sally, and his stepdad, Paul, were both very sweet and welcoming. They gave Percy a questioning look, but that was all, and after he explained they smiled kindly at me.

"It's very nice to meet you Karen."

I smiled my best smile. "It's nice to meet you too Ms. Jackson."

She smiled back at me. Lots of smiling going on. I know

"Actually it's Blofis now, but you can call me Sally." I nodded and then yawned.

"I'm so sorry", I said and felt my cheeks redden. How embarrassing! Sally just smiled and led me to the guest room.

"You look very tired Kyra. How bout you get some rest now and tomorrow you tell us your story?" I was too tried to speak so I just nodded. "Call us if you need anything." She closed the door behind her and I fell onto the bed, and was gone.

I dreamt of Killian. We were sitting on that bench, up on the hill, looking down over the city. It was in the middle of the night and the lights glimmered like diamonds in the distance. "I've missed you Kitty." His stupid nickname for me made me smile and blush. "I've missed you too", I heard my mouth say.

It was true, I had missed him. I still did. I looked out over the city, smiling. This was one of my favourite views in the entire world. I loved it when the world turned into a game between shadow and light, making the whole world seem like it was made of pure magic. I was a romantic that way. He gently brushed his hand against my cheek and I shuddered, leaning in to the touch.

I felt my heart beat fast in anticipation. He was going to kiss me. I could just feel it. I just knew. His hand left my cheek and I turned and….. screamed. It was no longer Max sitting there, but Caleb. Wet, cold, dead. I screamed and screamed and screamed and didn't even stop when Percy rattled me awake.

He was holding my shoulders saying my name, telling me to calm down, but how could I? How could I calm down? Tears were running down my face, my breath was going faster and faster. A part of my brain registered that I was hyperventilating, but most of me was still in shock from my dream. It had been so real!

I don't know how, but somehow they got me to calm down. Sally had come in too and it was her soothing voice that calmed me enough, to realize what was going on. I was in the house of practical strangers, screaming my head off. I was still in shock, but now I was embarrassed too. I couldn't believe I had done that.

"I'm so sorry" I said, but Sally shushed me.

"There's no need to be sorry. You had a bad dream, it happens to the best of us." There was a twinkle in her eye and I had to smile a little. She looked down with concern and I realized that my sloppily cleaned wound was bleeding again.

"Percy. Go get the first aid kit. Did a monster do that?" She asked me and I shook my head, but it felt like a lie. A monster had done that. A monster that had once been my mother. "No." She didn't ask anymore.

Percy brought the kit, looking at me uncertainly. I could tell that this was going way over his head, but was touched that he was concerned.

"I'm ok. I'm sorry for waking you up."

Sally dabbed at me wound. "Now I've already told you. There's no need to apologize. Percy, could you give us a second?" He nodded and left the room with one last glance at me.

"Kyra, I know that as a demi-god life can be tough, I raised one after all. But I want you to know that you can trust me. You're safe here and you no longer have to carry your burdens alone." I looked into her warm and kind eyes and suddenly everything came spilling out.

She just sat there and listened, gently bandaging my wound, and when done looking at me with those kind eyes. I felt a pang of jealousy. Percy was so lucky. After I was done she did something that surprised me. She hugged me.

She didn't say she was sorry, she didn't pity me, she just hugged me, and I suddenly started to cry. I hadn't let myself cry in so long that it almost felt like I was doing something wrong. After a while Sally left and I slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

In the morning everyone acted as if nothing had happened, and I was grateful for it. We ate breakfast together, they joked and laughed and then we were on our way. Percy had decided to bring me to camp himself, to make sure that I wouldn't die on my way. His words, not mine.

My crush on him had been growing right up unto the point where he mentioned his girlfriend. Annabeth. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but I instantly turned off my crush. I didn't go for guys with girlfriends. Anymore. I'd done that once and believe me, I'd learned my lesson.

Finally Half-Blood hill was in front of us and pang of anxiety went through me. Would Chiron even let me in after my little outburst yesterday? Had it only been yesterday? It felt so much longer.

I shouldn't have worried. He smiled broadly at me as I walked up the Big House. Percy had offered to accompany me, but I told him I knew the way. I could see that he was anxious to get to his girlfriend, plus it was the truth. After all I'd been here once before. "Welcome Kyra."

He didn't say anything about my change of mind, probably because he already knew. He had this very annoying habit of knowing everything. I just nodded. I may have come, but I wasn't happy about it. This has just been my only solution. He looked at me expectantly, as if waiting for something more and then sighed.

"Let's show you to your cabin shall we?" I looked up in surprise on that one. My cabin? Did he mean the Hermes cabin?

" A few things have changed since you were here last Kyra. There's a cabin for your father now. It's quite nice actually."


	2. Chapter 2

**Plapper: Don't own Percy Jackson.. blabla..so here's the new Chapter. I hope you like it J **

The cabin was indeed quite _nice _as Chiron had put it. Now I completely suck at describing buildings but let me try. So imagine a nice cabin, not too big, with a little patio and greek columns holding up a tiled roof. Got that? Ok now imagine that in black marble, with the colums made of twirling shadows. Good so far? Well that's what it looked like from the outside.

Now the inside. Ha that's where it gets super cool! First of all: it was pitch-black. Seriously. It was as if it absorbed all the light, just swallowing. I guess it was a good thing that I could see in the dark.

Also: It was freaking HUGE! Much larger than it should have been. There was a huge fluffy round bed, covered with soft fluffly blankets in different shades of grey (less than fifty ). The pillows were all silver and made of silk. This was aaaawesome! There was a huge mirror covering the wall opposite of the bed, a giant wardrobe, that I was pretty sure was portable and the floor was covered in a plush, soft black carpet. I turned and looked at Chiron questioningly.

"No siblings?" I wasn't sure what answer I was hoping for. A part of me wanted siblings, the other… well the other was so used to being alone, that it didn't really want anyone to get in the way of that. He shook his head.

"No Kyra. As far as we know, you're the only child of Erebos." He furrowed his brow at that and I opened my mouth to ask something, but then thought better of it. He explained anyways. "Erebos is old, Karen. He's one of the first Gods, he was there before the titans, he's as old as Night. He's too old to interfere with humans."

Now it was my turn to frown. He had interfered, as Chiron had so nicely put it, and I was the result. He'd interfered with my Mother, and it had cost her her sanity. No that wasn't fair. It wasn't Erebos who'd cost my mother her sanity, that had been me.

I swallowed. "Uhm ok… Well I guess there are exceptions." I had meant to sound upbeat, but somehow it had sounded bitter. Great. Bitter at 18. That was far too young… Then again, I guessed I deserved some bitterness. Just a tiny bit of it.

Chrion pulled me from my gloomy thoughts. "Make yourself at home, I'll send someone over to show you around camp later, how bout it?" I just nodded. I'd already seen camp, some six years ago, I didn't want to see it again. I didn't even want to be here. Although… the sweet bachelorette pad I had now, did kinda make me feel better. I didn't even wait for Chiron out the door before I jumped on the nearest bed with a wild "Yeeeehaaaa."

Ok so maybe now you're wondering about the whole I'd-been-here-before business. Am I right? Thought so. Haha I'm just awesome that way.

Well I'll explain. You know how demi-gods apparently turn on their super-stink when they're about 12? Well the same happened to me. I turned 12 and monsters came knocking. Quite literally.

After a monster nearly killed me, a couple of months after my Birthday, I was brought to Camp Half-Blood, where they told me I was a demi-god and that I'd be safer there. I stayed for a week, one long agonizing week in which I was stuffed into an overfilled Hermes cabin. I knew who my father was, but he hadn't officially claimed me and there was no cabin for me back then, so I was stuck in the Hermes cabin and I hated it.

I hated the fighting, I missed my friends and most of all, I was worried about my mother. It had only been a couple of months since we'd lost Caleb… She couldn't lose me too! I needed to go home.

When I told Chiron he didn't want me to go. He said he'd settled things with my mother, but I knew that she was in no state to object. So I ran.

How did I survive? Honestly? Luck. I shouldn't have. But I did, I got as far as the next gas station from where I called my grandparents and they picked me up. They'd actually flown out to get me. The only grandparently thing I could remember them doing in the last six years. Before that… before that there'd been laughter, hugs , kisses and smiles. But all that had changed.

So that's my story. There's one more thing that I should say to clarify things. Except for two times, monsters left me alone. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'd just gotten pretty good at dodging them. The whole disappearing into shadows thing really helped a lot in that respect. And I got tough. I signed up for every class that would teach me to defend myself. Like fencing, that one had helped me on more than one occasion. But for the most part, monsters left me alone.

There. That's my experience with Camp Half-Blood. I'd hated it, but now I was back.

There was a knock on the door that pulled me out of my gloomy thoughts and memories. "Come in!" I hollered, too lazy to move my but from the oh-so-comfy mattress.

The door opened into like a square of light, but none of it entered. This was so cool! There was boy in the entrance, squinting his eyes searching for me. "Whasupp?" I called from my bed, enjoying the look of confusion on his face.

Suddenly he looked directly at me and I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Could he see?

"Your light's broken."

His voice was dry and humourless and yet I was convinced that he'd just made a joke. I smirked looking him over.

He was tall, with black hair and dark eyes. He was dressed all in black too. Black shirt, black pants, black leather jacket and even black converse. Interesting. Black was my colour.

"Can I help you?", I asked, still enjoying myself. I was now almost convinced that he could see, at least a little, and it kinda bugged me. Seeing in the dark was my thing.

The boy sighed. "Chiron sent me. To show you around camp."

Wow he sounded enthusiastic. Well neither was I. A thought crossed my mind. Maybe..? It was worth a try. I concentrated and the square of light and moved the darkness away with my mind. Slowly light began to fill my room, just enough to reveal me sitting on the bed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Nice trick."

I grinned. "Thanks. Didn't know I could do that."

"So you want to be shown around?" His voice wasn't as bored as it had been two minutes ago and I decided to accept. I was intrigued by this boy. I nodded and jumped off my bed. I walked over to him and held out my hand. "Kyra. Nice to meet you." He looked at my hand then turned around and ignored it. "Nico. Let's get this over with."

Rude! I frowned and followed, just a little put off by this arrogant guy.

It wasn't as bad as I'd thought. Nico showed me everything from the Big House to Firework Beach. I had to admit, the camp was impressive, beautiful even, and people seemed happy. I smiled, maybe this wasn't as horrible as my memories had let me believe.

Nico saw my smile and gave me a funny look. I looked away only to run right into him when he stopped abruptly. Flat against his back I realized just how tall he was. My nose struck right between his shoulder blades!

I tumbled back, rubbing my nose. "Yo Goth boy! Watch it."

He turned to glare at me, but I really didn't care. Fine, so he was an expert at the death stare. So was my ex-Principal. I wasn't impressed. Or maybe I was just too busy rubbing my aching nose. Man that guy had a back of steel.

"Don't call me that." His eyes were furious, but I didn't care.

"Then don't dress all in black."

He looked surprised and chuckled. "You have no clue who I am, do you?"

Oh great. He had issues.

"Nope. And to be honest? I don't give a rats rear end. Now how bout we continue the tour Goth boy?"

I stomped past him, ignoring the daggers he was shooting me with his eyes. Hey, I didn't like being bossed around, and I didn't really care who any of these people were. Demi-Gods. Duh. Whose children they were was of no interest of mine.

After having walked a couple of feet I realized that he wasn't following, so I stopped and turned around. He was still standing in the same place, but he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at something out on the water. I followed his gaze and caught my breath.

There was an angel in the water. A tall figure in the middle of a storm. The water fawned out and it looked like cristal wings engulfing the boy. It was mesmerazing.

Suddenly I recognized the guy. Percy. Great… Way to help me get rid of my crush.

I looked at Nico to tell him to get his butt into gear when I saw the expression on his face and something within my chest tightened. There was pain on his face. Pain, admiration and longing. I knew that expression. I'd worn it before.

Nico was in love with Percy.

I slowly walked up to him and touched his arm. "Come on Goth boy. You got a camp you need to show me.", I said gently and started walking again. This time Nico followed.

There really wasn't much left to show, except for the arena, which was pretty amazing. There were people fighting there and I was stunned to see young kids, maybe ten or twelve years old, use swords with such skill. It made me wanna fight.

I didn't have my sword with me, but there were a couple of practice swords leaning against the wall, so I grabbed one and faced Nico. "Fight me. I wanna see if you're any good."

He looked at me perplexed and shook his head. "I'm not fighting a newbie."

I laughed. He didn't know that I'd been training with a sword since I was six years old.

"Come on you chicken. Fight me."

He started to walk away, but I blocked his path. Now he was getting annoyed.

"I'm not doing this Kyra. Stop it."

Now maybe I'm a pushy person. Maybe. But I wasn't letting him go. I lunged at him and suddenly his sword was in his hand, parying mine.

"There we go." I smirked and attacked again.

I don't know how long we fought, but we were evenly matched. That was new for me. Usually I was the best by far, but against another demi-god I didn't have an advantage. We were both sweating heavily, and I was grinning. Suddenly my blade flew out of my hand and the tip of his sword was at my throat. He grinned at me as we both gasped for air.

His smile was beautiful; it made his whole face light up. I had the odd feeling that I was probably one of the few to have ever seen that particular smile.

"Not bad newbie." He grinned and I laughed.

I became aware of the fact that everyone in the arena was staring at us with wide eyes and I blushed. Nico dropped his sword and gave me a friendly pat. I had the feeling that we were beginning to become friends.

"Wow Nico. I didn't know you could fight like that." Nicos face instantly turned into an emotionless mask at sound of Percy's voice and I frowned. He just shrugged and walked away without a word. If I hadn't seen the pain in his eyes I would've probably gotten annoyed, but instead I let him go.

"Hey Percy!" I smiled at him and then noticed the beautiful blonde on his arm. She was a little taller than me, curse my height, and had stunningly intelligent grey eyes. "Nice fighting Kyra. Did they teach you that in High School? This is Annabeth by the way."

I smiled at her. "Hi. Nice to meet you after having heard so much about you." She smiled in return. "Likewise."

Oh boy. She'd heard about me. That meant she'd heard that I'd almost gotten eaten by an anorexic demon and screamed my head off in Percys house. Yay. It didn't bug me that Percy knew this stuff about me, but somehow with this girl it was different. I felt an odd resentment towards her that I couldn't place. Was it because she was Percy's girlfriend?

I shooke my head to get rid of the thought and the two of them gave me an odd look. "So… How did you get Nico to fight? He doesn't really like to, although he's really really good at it."

I tilted my head. "Hmm.. I attacked him. I guess." They both laughed.

"You're pretty brave. Attacking a son of Hades like that", Annabeth said and suddenly it made sense.

"So that's why he wears black!" I said before I could stop myself. They chuckled again.

"You're one to talk." I was confused until I looke down on myself and realized that I was dressed all in black as well. I laughed. No wonder Nico had given me the evil eye for calling him Goth boy.

"Well I guess it's literally the pot calling the kettle black huh?" I winked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Plapper: Hey random people! So what do you think so far? I know it's moving sloooooowly… but I've got big plans. Believe me. Lots of cool stuff coming, if you have patience. Till then just let me know what you think ( kindly ) I know this is the internet, but hey being polite won't kill anyone right? Cool :) Thanks and enjoy!**

I was back in my room, looking at the gobs of clothes in my closet. A curtecy from my Dad I presumed. The closet was a huge walk in and it was filled with clothes, shoes, jackets, scarfs and anything else the heart could desire. All my size and all my style. Best dad ever award goes to….drummroll…. EREBOS!

So what to wear to dinner and my official introduction to camp?

After about an hour of looking through my stuff, my room was littered in clothing and I was dressed. I took one last glance at my reflection and smiled. I looked good, if I may say so myself. I was wearing black leggings and a dark green dress that reached mid thigh. Black army boots and a leather jacket and voila! Now I just needed to do something with my hair.

My sense of fashin may have been impecible, but my skills with hair definitely weren't. After several failed attempts of trying to braid my hair elaborately I walked out the door with a simple high pony tail. I told myself that I looked good enough anyways.

Now don't think me arrogant, or do, whatever, but I'd never gone through the whole: I'm ugly, fase. I may have been short, but I had a wickedly good figure, long silky black hair and green eyes that seemed to glow from within. Yes if there was something good that had resulted from my weirdo parents, then it was my genes.

So I was confident in my good looks as I walked to the dinning pavillon, only to stop abruptly when I realized that I was lost. Great…. My negative sense of orientation was striking once again! I was standing amongst a couple of cabins, looking around for a hint of where I needed to go when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. Quickly I spun around and came face to… well chest with Nico.

He looked down at me with a small smile. "Are you lost?"

I felt my cheeks redden and shook my head. "Nope… just admiring the.. uhm cabins."

It was very obvious that he didn't believe me. He chuckled. "Come on. I'll show you to the tables." I sighed and followed. Apparently he wasn't fooled.

As I walked next to him, or actually almost behind him, his legs were so long, I began to notice just how handsome Nico was. I hadn't at first, because of his guarded expression, but now that he was smiling and joking it was pretty clear. Nico was pretty darn hot. I sighed, too bad that he was gay.

He looked at me questioningly and I blushed again. Twice in a couple of minutes, must've been a new record. "What?" I snapped a little harsher than I'd intended. He smiled again, gods he had a gorgeous smile. "Nothing. We're here."

And indead we were. The pavillon was right before us, bustling with noise. There were so many campers! Suddenly I didn't feel confident at all anymore, but small and unimportant. I didn't belong here.

There were a lot of different tables, some crowded and some nearly empty. So that hadn't changed… I'd always hated sitting at the overfilled Hermes table, but now, as I looked at the campers sitting alone, I felt lonely. I was one of them too. No one here would share my table, no one would joke around with me.

"Come sit with me Kyra." I looked up at Nico questioningly.

"Is that even allowed?"

He smiled and nodded, so I followed him to his table and sat down opposite of him. I didn't get to sit for long though, because suddenly Chrion spoke.

"Good evening! We have a new camper here today. Kyra, would you come here please?" I slowly stood up and walked over to stand next to Chiron and some fat dude in a really really ugly hawaien shirt. Seriously that thing hurt my eyes…

"Mr. D will say some words now."

Mr.D or , as I preferred to call him, cleared his throat.

"Yeah this is Kelly Mift. She's new. A child of Erebos. Blablabla."

Ok… Not exactly the welcome I'd expected, but I wasn't gonna complain. I actually preferred this to a real introduction.

"What Mr.D meant is that Kyra Mist is now a new camper here and that you should make her feel welcome."Chiron said and I hid a smile. Always proper, always correct.

Suddenly a voice called out from one of the tables. "A child of Erebos? Who is that supposed to be? Has she even been claimed yet?"

The girl who had spoken was incredibly pretty and she knew it from the way she spoke.

"No she hasn't." Chiron said and looked at me with a weird expression. I suddenly feared the worst. Were they gonna stick me back into that blasted Hermes cabin?

All of a sudden all the lights around us went out and the world turned pitch black, so black that even I couldn't see anything anymore. For a second I freaked out, thinking that I had gone blind and then the world was back to normal, everyone staring at me. No one said a word.

"Well… I guess I've just been claimed." I said and gave that stupid Drew girl a nasty grin. She shudered and sat back down and I went back to sit next to Nico without waiting for Chiron to give me permission. Nico gave me an approving tap on the shoulder.

"Welcome to freak world", he grinned and I couldn't help but smile too. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

That night I had the first of many dreams about the Lost City.

I was alone in the middle of a huge square, surrounded by towering buildings made of white marble and silver. It was beautiful, breathtaking even. The square I was standing on had a giant fountain in the middle. There was a satue of a beautiful woman in its middle and the water was flowing from her outheld hands. She was tall and regal looking, her eyes closed and a kind smile on her lips.

My feet started walking over the white ground and my eyes looked around. The buildings were master pieces of architecture, with beautiful carvings on the walls and high and winding spires on top. The windows were all layed out in beautiful mosaics and colours dance in the sun.

As I kept walking I noticed that there were flowers and plants growing everywhere, decorating the streets, the houses, the towers. Ivy growing up along the spires, roses blooming on the side of the street. It could've been chaotic, but all seemed orderly, clean and beautiful. I found that I was smiling.

This was the most beautiful place I had ever seen, everything seemed to radiate with a kind, warm ligtht. It felt like home.

I awoke with tears on my face and a longing in my chest that I knew would never go away.

The next couple of days went by in a blurr and most of them were spent with Nico. We had bonded over the fact that we were both creepy, both wore black and both liked making fun of the Aphrodite cabin. I finally had my gay best friend, although he didn't act gay at all and I began to wonder if I'd only imagined it after all.

I was surprised to find that Nico could be talkative after all, if he wanted to, but only when we were alone. Maybe it was the fact that I too was a child of the Underworld, the Dark, that made him open up to me, or maybe he just liked my company, but I didn't care. Never before in my life had I gotten along with someone so well so quickly.

"I still need a weapon", I said one day as we were sitting at the beach, looking out over the water. We'd been having one of our quiet thoughtful moments and he smirked at my comment. It wasn't the first time I'd brought this up. "You could always ask Chiron to show you the weaponry." It also wasn't the first time that he'd given me this answer and I sighed.

"I know I know,but I don't like talking to Chiron. He always gives me this sad look."

He laughed, but I didn't think it was particularly funny. I hated the look Chiron got when he looked at me. As if I were about to explode and take everything around me with me. But Nico was right. I couldn't avoid Chiron forever. Why not get it over with now?

I jumped up and brushed the sand from my dark jeans. He looked at me in surprise and then smiled. "Are we being brave?" I stuck my toung out at him. "You coming or not?"

As always when I came to the Big House it felt as if Chiron had been expecting me. He was standing on the porch, looking at us as we came up the hill, a frown on his face. Great. I almost turned back around, but Nico firmly gently put his hand on my shoulder, guessing my intent and I kept walking.

"Kyra. Nico. What a surprise." Oh yeah? Why didn't he look surprised then?

"I need a weapon." There. No point beating around the bush.

He raised and eyebrow. "Do you now? Well I guess you do. Lets see if we can find something suitable for you shall we?"

He started walking towards the armory and I looked at Nico who shrugged and we followed.

I had never been in the armory before and was surprised to find that it was pretty big and pretty messy. That could not be a safe combination…. "Take a pick." Chiron said and I looked at him questioningly. There was something odd about his voice.

I strolled through the armory, picking up bows, knives and swords and putting them all back down again. Nothing felt right to me. Then I felt a pull from a dark corner and looked over to see a pair of twin blades, carelessly lying on the ground in the corner. I'd never fought with twin blades before but I instantly knew that those two were meant for me. Carefully I picked them up and admired them.

One of the blades was deep black, made of the same material as Nico's blade, the other was pure silver. Marvo and Argentium. Black and Silver. My blades.

The were of marvellous craftsmanship, delicate yet sturdy, with a beautiful pattern on the blades and the hilts. I smiled and spun around. "These. I pick these."


	4. Chapter 4

**Plapper: Hey guys. I don't own Percy Jackson. Yes surprise, after four chapters I still don't own him… Well here goes nothing.**

I barely had time to dodge as Riptide came crashing down on me. Man Percy was fast! I didn't even get the chance to try and attack him before I was flat on my back with his blade at my throat. He grinned down at me and my heart fluttered a little bit. Shut up! I told it, but as usual it didn't listen. "Not bad! You're getting better."

I scoffed at that. We both knew that it wasn't true. I sucked at this whole twin blades thing! I was getting really frustrated. I had known, just known, that those blades were meant for me. They'd felt so right, they still did, but I couldn't use them at all. I was good a sword fighting, not as good as Percy, but good, but with these I felt as helpless as a child.

"No I'm not and you know it."

He looked at me with an unsure expression, obviously thinking about what to say next,but I didn't give him the chance. I tapped the blade to my wrists where they instantly wrapped themselves around my wrists turning into bracelets. Cool huh? I'd discovered the trick by accident, but I loved it. Plus they looked really cool. One was dark Stygnian Iron, the other pure silver and they fit my wrists perfectly. Not too loose and not to tight, as if they'd been made for me. Too bad I couldn't fight with them.

I sighed again. I didn't have an ounce of talent for this.

I turned around just in time to see Percy making out with Annabeth and my frown deepend. For some reason Annabeth and I didn't really get along. It was odd, because she was exactly the kind of girl I usually admired. Smart, strong, confident and with a witty attitude, yet somehow she made my head hurt.

"Hi Annabeth" I waved, feeling very self-concious of the fake smile plastered on my face. She smiled and waved back. She liked me just fine, which made me feel even worse for not liking her.

"Rachel is here", she said to Percy.

"Really?"

She nodded. "You should go say hi to her. She's not staying long… Chiron's talking to her right now, but after that I'm sure she'd love to see you."

I looked back and forth betweent he two of them and finally spoke up. " Who's Rachel?" I'd heard the name before, but I'd never payed attention… Yeah I was weird like that, but when Percy cared, I suddenly did too. Annabeth gave me a weird look, but answered anway.

"Rachel is our Oracle. She's the one who prophecied the last big prophecy, the one about Gaia."

Both their faces fell at Gaia's name and the memory. I'd heard bits and peaces from Nico, but he didn't like talking about it and I didn't ask. It had already been four years and still all that had been a part of it were deeply scarred.

"Cool", I said, trying to lighten the mood, but I didn't really succeed.

Percy smiled, shaking off whatever had been on his mind and turned to me. "You should meet her. She's cool."

I smiled and nodded. Why not? I'd never met an oracle before after all.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare, actually was pretty cool. I saw her scribbled jeans and immediately liked her. I'd like anyone who drew on their pants, ok maybe not Annabeth, but everyone else. Hmm… maybe even Annabeth.. maybe that was the problem. Next time she annoyed me I'd ask her to scribble on her pants and see if that helped.

Rachel held out her hand to me and I shook off my thoughts of attacking Annabeth with a sharpie and shook it. Suddenly Rachel was stock still, her eyes rolled back in her head and green smoke started coming out of her mouth. I tried to pull away but her gripp was iron hard. Ok maybe she wasn't so cool after all. I was freaking out when she finally spoke with a voice that made me shiver to the bones.

**"A ray of light from Darkness born**

**To unveil a world forlorn**

**An heir to nations gone and lost**

**Reclaims the throne with final cost**

**A choice be made with fading breath**

**To bring to Gods an oath of death"**

The smoke recoiled and Rachel stood there blinking and looking confused. I was frozen in place, incapable of moving, the words replaying in my head. A ray of light from darkness born. I shuddered again. Rachel let go of my hand and it fell to my side.

"What happened?" Her voice was unsure, confused and she looked around at the three of us, but I couldn't answer. I didn't even know what had happened.

Annabeth gave me an odd look, then put an arm round Rachel's shoulders. "You spoke a prophecy.. A pretty dark one too…Are you alright?" Rachel nodded.

No one asked me if I was alright. Everyone was focusing on Rachel. I slowly backed away, suddenly feeling like the world was closing in around me. That prophecy was about me, I knew it, I felt it in my bones, and that was not good. I turned around and ran.

I ran and and ran, not paying attention to the world around me. It was a blurr, it was surreal, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that I could escape, escape the panic in my chest, the fear in my heart, the doom above my head, but no matter how fast I ran, how much my legs hurt, how much my lungs ached I knew that it wasn't enough. I couldn't outrun this.

I finally broke down at Zeus fist, gasping for air, tears streaming down my face. I wondered at the strong reaction this prophecy had brought out in me. Maybe it wasn't about me… maybe it was about someone else, but then again… A ray of light from Darkness born… Kyra. It meant ray of light. It meant dark. I was a child of darkness.

I heard them call for me out in the woods. I heard Annabeth, I heard Percy and I heard Chiron, but I didn't answer. I didn't move. I couldn't. My body felt heavy, my mind tired. Rachel had touched me and the prophecy had come out. What more proof did I need?

The longing in my chest was back as well, the longing that hadn't left me since I'd dreamt of the city of silver. It had faded over time, made me think that it wasn't there anymore, but now it was burning through me hot and fierce enough to bring tears to my eyes.

I sunk down to the ground, my back against Zeus's fist, my head on my arms. I don't know how long I stayed there like that, but after a while I heard footsteps and a figure sat down beside me. I knew without looking that it was Nico. He didn't say anything and so we sat there in silence.

The world was dark when I raised my head. "Wanna tell me what happened?" He asked, but I was sure he already knew. I'd freaked out. I'd run into the woods like a crazy person. As if being the child of darkness wasn't curse enough.. Now I was the child of darkness that ran and hid. Great.

"It's about me."

"What is?"

"The prophecy."

He gave me a long look then turned to look at the stars shining through the trees.

"Are you sure?" I nodded.

He didn't question this. He didn't ask me why I was sure, he just accepted it. I rested my head against his shoulder and he put his arm around me. We sat there like that until it was late, then we got up and silently walked back to camp. About half way there I took his hand and he gave me a questioning look. I shook my head and he smiled and squeezed my hand, not saying anything. I felt a little better.

When we arrived at my cabin he gave me a quick kiss on the forhead before disappearing into the shadows, literally.

I went inside and sunk onto my bed, not bothering to take off my clothes. That was the second time I dreamt of the Lost City.

I was back in the square, but this time I wasn't alone. There were people all around me, laughing singing. Children were chasing eachother, venders were selling their goods and all the way the regal lady in the fountain smiled down on us.

I looked around to see jugglers, musicians and magicians, all showing their tallents and then my eyes fell upon a group of beautiful people. Two men and one woman. There was regal beauty about them, something otherworldy that made you look at them. They were talking to eachother, laughing and the more I watched them, the more it seemed as if they were glowing from within. They seemed to be filled with a warm light that seemed to reach out towards me and engulf me. I wanted them to see me, I wanted to be a part of them. Longing filled my soul, but they walked right past me.

As disappointment flodded through me, I realized that no one here seemed to notice me. I was an invisible observer and so I decided to follow the group. The men were both tall, with shoulder long blonde hair, braided to stay out of their faces and the woman had waist long almost white hair that fell down her back in elaborate curls. They moved with grace, almost floating and the people around them moved away as they came through.

The people weren't afraid of them though; they smiled at them, waved at them and even exchanged a couple of quick greetings. All in all everyone seemed to be incredibly happy, increadibly peacefull.

I followed them through the winding, beautiful roads of the Silver City, mesmerized by the beauty around me. This palce seemed to be too good to be true. Again the longing stirred up in my chest. I wanted this place to be real. I wanted to be a part of it, a part of the ancient magic that seemd to be coursing through the very air.

The group stopped abruptly and I almost bumped into one of them. Could I even bump into them? I didn't want to find out and so I stepped around them to see what had made them stop. We were at a main road and there were lots of people linging either side of it.

I quickly saw why. There was a huge chariot, made of gold and silver and radiating in light coming down the street. It was an acient chariot, the kind the greeks used and I began to notice the other greek features all around me. The clothing was slightly greek, the shoes even the buildings, although none in the traditional sense.

On the Chariot were a man and a woman. He was tall, with a white beard and white hair and a silver crown on his head. He too seemed to glow from within. His eyes seemed kind as he waved at the crowd. The woman was incredibly beautiful. Her hair was dark and had been pilled up on her haid in a beautiful tower with curls falling down to frame her face. There were silver diamonds glittering in her hair and she was wearing a beautiful white dress. A wedding dress. I was whitnessing a royal wedding.


	5. Chapter 5

**Plapper: Don't own PJ… uhm yeah. So now we're beginning to get close to the real deal. Tell me what you think will ya?**

Everything changed after that day and yet it all stayed the same. Confusing? I agree. Well maybe I should refraise that… Everything stayed the same, everything but me. My whole world had changed. I knew that prophecy was about me, I could feel it in my bones, and with each dream I had of the Silver City my conviction and determination grew.

I needed to find that city.

_"To unveil a world forlorn"_

I slashed at the dummie in front of me, cutting its head clean off. I grinned. I was getting better at this. The twin blades no longer felt clumsy in my hands, and my reaction time had gotten better too. I attacked another dummie, when suddenly a real blad blocked my way. Percy.

He was standing inbetween me and the dummie, grinning at me. I smiled back, but not in a friendly way. The challenge was accepted.

I kept the blad of my right hand where it was, under Percy's blade, and spun around to strike at him with my left. He stepped back, pulling his sword with him to block my attack.

The fight went on for a while, and I was proud to say that I held my ground. I managed to block his attacks and get a couple of my own in, and all of that without getting a single scratch.

We traided feints, thrusts and parries at an impossible speed, and the world ceased to exist around me. My brain turned off, all that mattered was the target.

Percy stepped to the left and I feinted at his right side, only to thrust towards his left with the other blade. That was the advantage of having two blades; I could attack and defend myself at once.

His sword came at me again and I ducked, coming up from under him, bringing one of my blades up to his throat and the other against his still outstretched wrist.

He looked at me in surprise and I had to admit, I was surprised myself. I'd moved too fast for him to react, too fast for me to even realize what I was doing.

My blade was still at his throat, slighty denting his skin without drawing blood. He grinned.

"Good job Kyra. I did not expect that."

I grinned and stepped back, tapping my blades to my wrists where they turned back into bracelets. I felt euphoric. I'd won! I could barely believe it.

"Me neither", I finally said, still grinning.

I heard someone clap behind me and turned around to see Annabeth there. She was smiling at both of us. I felt the usual sense of discomfort that came over me whenever she was around. Now I knew that it had nothing to do with my crush for Percy, because that was pretty much gone, but it came from deep inside. And it wasn't just her. I didn't really like any of the Athena cabin.

She walked up to Percy and gave him a quick peck. "You need to watch out Seaweedbrain. She's starting become dangerous to you."

He grinned. "Nah I was going easy on her."

Pha. Whatever. I'd won that fight fare and square and he knew it, but I let him be macho in front of his girlfriend. Who was kissing him again. Great. Get a room guys!

I cleared my throat, but they didn't seem to care. "Uhm… I'm just gonna.. go find.. Nico." I said and stumbled off ignoring their chuckles.

I went to his cabin and knocked, but there was no answer. I frowned. Now I had to go look for him, but I still felt high from my victory and so I began my search. My first guess would've been Zeus' fist, but that was so far away, so I decided to try some other places at first. The stables, no show. The climbing wall? No show.. I shouldn't even have tried, Nico hated climbing. I doubted he'd be at Arts and Crafts and so I decided to head into the woods to Zeus' fist, when I suddenly had another idea. The Big House! Why not? It was worth a try after all.

I was about to knock on the door of the big house when I heard muffled voices from inside, angry muffled voices. I decided to snoop. I ducked under one of the windes and listened intently.

Nico and Chiron were talking, and not exactly quietly. I was about to leave again when I heard something that made me stay.

"Nico I want to talk to you about that prophecy."

Now he had my full attention. Every last ounce of it. I pressed my ear even closer to the walls, but that only clogged my ear, so I backed up again. Darn it I was curious.

"This prophecy troubles me Nico, it speaks of things that are long gone and better left that way. Do you know what I mean?"

I had a sneaking suspicion. Nico said nothing, or maybe I just couldn't hear him, and Chiron continued.

"No I assume you don't. Have you ever wondered about Kyra's name? It is a very interesting one. It has many different meanings.. One of them is Ray of Light."

So Chiron knew that the prophecy was about me. My heart started beating faster. I'd thought I'd be afraid of this moment, but instead I was full of anticipation.

"I see you didn't know this. So now we both know that the first line of the prophecy is about Kyra. _A ray of light from Darkness born_. Kyra, the child of Erebos."

Gods I wished I could've seen Nico's reaction. Was he shoked? Was he surprised?

I needed for Chiron to keep talking. To tell me more of this prophecy. I needed him to tell me about my city.

"I'm afraid of what this prophecy means. There is an old tale Nico. It is a tale of defiance and corruption.

According to this tale there was once a city full of powerful and beautiful people. But they were cruel. They had powers no mortals should posses and they used it for their own gain. They worshiped the Titans and the oldest Gods, the evil creatures we fought a mere four years ago. The cratures of the beginning and they followed in their cruel ways. They didn't' respect the Gods; they even claimed to be gods themselves and surpressed the people around them, making them worship them. They abused their powers Nico.

The God's had been tolerant for a long time, allowing them to rule their own kingdom as they saw fit, but they were greedy people and soon their own kingdom wasn't enough. They marched on Athens causing chaos and havoc in their wake. They wanted to ursurp the Olympians, making themselves the new Gods and so the real Gods chose to punish them.

They'd heard the cries of the surpressed people and so they punished that cruel people by sending their city, yes their entire Island to the bottom of the ocean. That city was Atlantis."

Shock coursed through me in a hot wave. Atlantis. The name made my chest hurt. Atlantis, the Silver City. Could it really be one and the same?

"Why are you telling me this?" Nico asked.

"Atlantis was enormous Nico, some even called it another world. It was an ancient place, a place full of old magic, but it's gone. Or almost gone. Poseidon is currently inhabiting its remains acutally. But the reason why I'm telling you this is because there are some myths that the idea of Atlantis has prevailed. That it's still out there and that its people are just waiting to come back. That's what I'm afraid of.

I'm afraid that the prophecy is about the Lost City. If Atlantis were to return it would cause pain, suffering and war upon this earth. They would seek revenge for their banishment; they would attack the Gods and destroy the world as we know it. Atlantis was a powerful place Nico, a powerful and evil place and not something we ever want to be found. Do you understand?"

I'd heard enough. I quietly got up and walked away. What did this mean? The city Chiron had talked about couldn't be my city. My city was beautiful place. A place of peace and magic. So why did my heart hurt at the name?


	6. Chapter 6

**Plapper: Ok guys, so new stuff is happening! All over the place! Let me know what you think ok? Oh and I don't own PJ…. Yup so there it is.**

I needed to clear my head, sort out all that I'd heard and try to make sense of it, so I decided to go to Zeus' fist. It was my favourite spot because it was so secluded, and because, if you sat in just the right spot, you could see the sky through the trees. I loved looking at the sky, it made me feel calm. Calm and safe.

As I walked through the trees I thought back on all that I had just heard. A city full of magic, a city full of beautiful people… Chiron obviously thought that the city in the prophecy was Atlantis, but I wasn't so sure. The place he'd described and the city in my dreams were too different for that. And I was convinced that the city in the prophecy was the Silver City. Of course there were certain aspects that were the same, but… the Silver City, _my City_, was a wonderful place. There hadn't been a single corrupt thing about it.

My head was starting to hurt and I closed my eyes for a second, breathing in the fresh air. I'd think about this later…

When I got to Zeus' fist I was surprised to find that I wasn't alone. Nico was already there, sitting on the very top. He waved at me as I approached him and I tried not to show how confused I was. How had he gotten here before me?

"I've been looking for you!" I called to him and started climbing up the rock. I felt clumsy and about as graceful as a turtle, but finally I was on the top and sat down next to him, my legs dangling over the edge.

"Well you've found me.", he said, his voice distant and thoughtful.

I didn't say anything; I wanted to give him the chance to tell me about his conversation with Chiron. I was sure that he would. We were best friends after all, there was no way that he'd keep this from me, but he didn't say a word. He just stared at the trees surrounding us.

"You been here all day?" I asked, trying to sound innocent as to not let him know that I knew where he'd been. He'd tell me…. And then he nodded.

"Yeah."

My heart sank, fast and hard. It felt like it dropped right through me and just crashed into the hard rock on the ground. Yeah. Yeah he'd been here all day. Yeah he was lying to me. Yeah. I felt numb. Why? Why would he lie to me? Why would the only person I trusted lie to me? I balled my hands into fists. I should have known. What had I expected? The truth? Yeah.

He wasn't looking at me, his eyes were fixed on the ground and he said nothing. Just yeah. For heavens sake! Yeah wasn't even a real word! How could a fake word hurt so much?!

I was getting angry.

"Really?", I said, my voice icy cold, "That's funny, cuz I could've sworn that I heard you talking to Chiron in the Big House. Must've been some other Nico then." I got up and turned to leave, not even looking at him and he just sat there, staring at the ground.

Tears shot into my eyes as I climbed down the rock. I wasn't sure why this hurt so much… It was just that Nico had understood me so well. He was supposed to be my friend, my rock to lean on, the one who was always there for me. Maybe that was a dumb thing to expect after having known him for a few short months, and yet that's how I'd come to feel about him.

Suddenly I wasn't mad anymore. I felt weak. Weak and vulnerable. I let myself sink to the ground and let my head lean against the cold hard rock. I didn't have the energy to move, I didn't even care that Nico was just above me, probably looking down on me. A part of me hoped that he'd come down. That he'd explain, but he just sat there, not saying a word and so did I. We just sat there, divided only by the a piece of rock and my broken trust.

Three days. Three days had passed since Zeus' fist and Nico hadn't spoken to me onc. I felt miserable. I was angry at him for lying to me, but even worse was how betrayed I felt by his silence. Why couldn't he just tell me what had happened? Why couldn't he just explain? Apologize? Did he care that little about me?

I sat on my bed and stared at the ceiling, wishing for once that I couldn't see in the dark. I wanted to world to go away, to disappear. I closed my eyes, only to find it flooded with images. Images of the Silver City, images of me and Nico, images of Chrion and Nico talking, images of Percy and Annabeth, images of Nico looking at Percy, images of Nico smiling, images of Nico fighting, images of Nico laughing… You get the picture I think.

I opened my eyes and resumed staring at the ceiling. My heart hurt. Badly. I missed him, I missed my friend and maybe, maybe I missed him a little more than that. Had I fallen for him? I scoffed. Way to go Kyra! Go fall in love with your gay best friend. That's not damned to fail.

I was pittying myself and I felt very justified in doing so. Life was stupid.

There was a knock on the door but I didn't reply. Then another. Then another. Then another. I stil ignored it, hoping that whoever it was would go away. I'm not home I thought at the door, but oddly enough the person on the other side didn't hear me.

"Kyra!" Percy.

A part of me wondered what he wanted. The other part of me didn't give a rats rear end. You can guess which part won. Exactly.

I continued to stare at the ceiling and thinking about how much my life sucked.

"Kyra open the door. I know you're in there."

No you don't, I thought, you jus think I'm in here. I wasn't going to prove him right. Maybe if I closed my eyes he'd go away. I tried.

"Kyra open the freaking door!"

Darn it. So I couldn't make people disappear by closing my eyes. Now that would've been a cool super power. How bout it Dad?

"Kyra, we need to talk to you. It's important." Annabeth.

Ok now I was a little curious. Why would Annabeth wanna talk to me? Was I curious enough to get up though? Nope.

"Ok fine! We're coming in" Percy said, clearly annoyed. I didn't really care, but I also didn't want them to come inside. The door opened into a white square of light, showing two figures standing there. They couldn't see me of course, because the darkness in my cabin didn't let the light in. If it hadn't been so much work I would've grinned.

"Crap.", Percy said as he spied into the room, not seeing anything. "I don't wanna go in there. I'm gonna trip and kill myself."

Ok now I grinned a little. Just in the corners

"Maybe we don't have to", Annabeth said. "Kyra. It's about your Mom."

Suddenly I was on high alert, all lethargy forgotten. I jumped up and walked over to the door. I looked like crap and I knew it, I hadn't really left my cabin in three days, surviving on the stash of junk I had in my room. Don't judge me, I was in a bad place. That was all forgotten now.

I stepped into the light, making Annabeth and Percy jump. To them it must have looked like I'd stepped right out of a black wall.

"What happened?" I was freaking out on the inside, but trying to stay calm.

"We don't know. Chiron said to come and get you. He said it's important."

I'd started running before she'd even finished the sentence. I must have looked like a crazy person. I was wearing two different socks, a pair of basketball shorts and a huge t-shirt. My hair was a mess, my face tear stricken, but I dind't care. Please let her be ok, I prayed to my father, and any other God that happened to be listening.

Panting and sweating I arrived at the door and knocked. The person who opened wasn't Chiron though, it was Nico. He looked at me and opened his mouth but I ignored him and pushed right past him. I didn't care about him right now.

"Chiron!" I yelled. I was freaking out!

"Kyra what's wrong?" Nico asked and grabbed my shoulder, but I shrugged him off. I had this nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Chiron!" I sounded panicked, frantic, but I didn't care. People were outside staring at me, Percy and Annabeth too. They were looking at me with helpless expressions, wanting to calm me down but not knowing how.

Finally Chiron walked in the room.

"What happened?" I asked, suddenly completely calm. He looked at me, but didn't say anything. He went over to the door and shut it. Nico was still inside. I wanted him to leave. I wanted everyone to leave.

"Kyra sit down." I didn't. I didn't want to sit down. I wanted him to tell me that my mom was ok. He sighed when he realized that I wasn't going to follow his instructions.

"There has been an attack… " My heart dropped. I couldn't breathe. No! Not again! Not again! This couldn't be happening again! It felt like I was back there, six years ago, when he'd said those same words to my mother.

_"Ms. Mist. There's been an attack…."_

"She's alive."

A glimmer of hope flared up in me and I looked into Chirons face. "Why? Why would monsters attack her? She's mortal!"

_"Why? Why? Why?" _

_"We don't know."_

"We don't know", he said and I could see that he was telling the truth.

"I need to go see her." It wasn't a question and he knew it. He knew that I'd fight him with everything I had, if he didn't let me go. He nodded.

"Nico can take you by shadow travel." Nico nodded and I gave him a quick glance. Shadow travel.. So that's how he got around so fast. It made sense.

I nodded and left to go change.

When I got to the cabin I realized that I really needed a shower. I smelled like I'd been brought back from the dead.

The hot water on my face felt wonderful and I sighed. Then guilt washed over me just as scolding hot as the water, but not nearly as relaxing. I hadn't given a second thought to my mother since I'd come to camp.

I'd been so busy concentrating on that stupid city in my dreams and on Nico that I hadn't even bothered to make sure that my mother was safe. That she was in good hands. Tears ran down my face. I couldn't believe that I had just abandoned her like that!

I got out of the shower and wrapped a huge fluffy towel around myself. I walked into my room and stopped short. Nico was sitting on my bed!

My face turned bright red and I was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that I was wearing nothing but a towel. What the hell was he doing here!

He looked up at me and suddenly his face turned bright red too.

"What do you want?", my voice was cold and I saw him flinch. Good.

"I came to apologize about the other day… "

"Fine. I don't really care."

Now he looked hurt, even angry, but the anger quickly dropped away from his face again.

"I'm sorry about your mom." He sounded genuine enough and I swallowed.

"Me too… "

He got up to leave. Just as he reached the door I called after him.

"Nico." He turned to look at me. "Thanks." He nodded and left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Plapper: Hey guys what's up? Any reviews yet? No? Well things are moving along here in Kyra world. I hope you like it : )**

She looked fragile, helpless, lying on that bed, bandages covering her head, her neck and her arms. They said she'd done this to herself. They said she'd had an attack. Lies. But they didn't know better. They said she'd spoken off demons, demons who'd come to kill her. That was the truth. But who'd believe her? Who'd believe the woman in the psychiatric ward? The woman who'd tried to kill her own daughter only three months ago. No one.

I gently took her hand into mine. Had she always looked his old? She was only 37. She'd been so young when she'd had me. Too young. Her hands looked so old, so fragile, so small. A tear fell down my face and landed on her lifeless hand with a soft sound.

She was asleep, not aware of the fact that I was there beside her. I wondered, what she would think if she knew? They'd told me that she'd been recovering before the incident. They'd said she'd been calm, peaceful. They also said that she never mentioned me. Only Caleb. Always Caleb.

Another tear fell.

I took her hand up to my lips and kissed it. Despite it all, she was my mother and I loved her. I'd never learned how to, but I did. I guess that's something that's just within us, the urge to love those who gave us life. Even when they don't love us back.

She squeezed my hand and I looked up. Her eyes were open and she was looking at me. She smiled and I gulped.

"Is it time for my check-up again?" her voice was kind, formal, without a hint of recognition.

I nodded, trying my best not to cry.

"Yes . Just checking your vitals. Everything looks fine." My voice nearly cracked at the end, only nearly.

"Has Caleb come to see me?"

"Why yes Ma'm. You just missed him, but I'm sure he'll be back." I forced myself to smile at her.

She smiled back at me and closed her eyes.

"Good. He's such a good good boy."

"Yes. He really is."

She was sleeping again and I slowly got up.

"Good-bye Mom."

I calmly walked out of the room and closed the door behind me.

I turned and ran. Past the nurses glaring at me, telling me to stop, past Nico waiting for me in the lobby, past doctors, patients, out the door and over the street. I wasn't paying attention, I wasn't looking, I just needed to get away. To make it stop. I couldn't breathe, my legs hurt, my eyes were beginning to blurr, but I didn't stop. I just kept running. Running. Running. Running.

Why wasn't I fast enough? Why couldn't I outrun this? Why were my problems always just as fast as I?

I broke down near a bench in the middle of a little park. I just fell to the ground, gasping for air, my heart pounding, my legs aching and my lungs on fire and it was wonderful. My body hurt. It hurt like hell, but it drowned out the pain I felt inside. The pain of having lost my mother once again.

I stayed there like that for a coupl of minutes. No one approached me; no one even seemed to see me. I was a shadow. Had I done that on purpose? I couldn't remember, but I was glad. I didn't want them to see me crying on the ground. I slowly got up and turned around only to find Nico standing there. He didn't say a word.

I walked up to him and gave him my hand. "Time to go."

He nodded and whisked us away.

Once again I was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling and feeling miserable. This was starting to become a habbit. My room was a mess, clothes everywhere, empty chips bags and coke cans littered the floor. Ok. Enough moping. It was time to pull myself together.

I jumped out of bed and regretted it immediately when my vision turned blurry. Oh boy, headrush… I sat back down on the bed and waited until it passed, then I got to work. I opened the windows and moved the shadows to let the light in. The sun hit my face, warm and welcoming. I smiled and turned to face the battle. This was gonna need some tunes.

A few moments later my cabin was blasting Avicii's Wake me Up at top volume and I was singing along just as loudly into my hairbrush as I began tiding up my room. I jumped and danced around the room like a mad person, just getting it all out. The anger, the fear the sadness, there was no room for any of that. By the end of my little outburst of madness my room was spotless and I was exhausted. Grinning widely I fell unto my bed.

Someone clapped.

Crap.

I forgot that people could see me now. Slowly, careful and expecting the worst I opened my eyes and looked to the window. Nico, Percy and Annabeth were standing there grinning at me.

"We came to see how you're doing.", Percy said

"But it seems like you're fine", Annabeth smirked.  
Nico just grinned and said nothing.

I blushed and instantly filled the room with darkness so I could hide in my shame. I should've known, playing music that loud, and yet it had felt good. Music had magical abilities, I was convinced of that. It had this way of letting you say what words just couldn't express.

I heard them laugh from the window and I grinned, letting light back into the room.

"Hi guys, wanna come in?"

We'd sat on the bed, the four of us, and they'd laughed at me, told me funny stories and made me feel alive again for the first time in days. I was grateful to have them there, all of them, even Annabeth. She really was a good person.

After about an hour Percy and Annabeth had left, leaving Nico and I alone. The hairbrush I'd used as a mircrophone was lying on the bed between us and he picked it up and held it to his mouth, imitating me. I smacked his arm and he laughed. I couldn't help but laugh too. I loved his laugh; it was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.

He gave me an odd look and then…kissed me.

My mind went blank and I closed my eyes as his lips moved against mine. Soft and gently, almost hesitant, as if he was afraid of hurting me and then harder. His hands were on my waist and mine was in his hair, I had no clue how it had gotten there. He pulled away again and smiled at me. And I? I slapped him. Hard.

"What the hell Kyra!" he said, holding his face. He looked at me, ready to say more, but stopped short when he saw my face.

I was crying. My hand, the one that ha slapped him, was shaking.

"Kyra", Nico said calmly, "what's wrong?"

"You kissed me."

"I know."

Of course he knew…

"You kissed me back you know."

I had.

"So why did you slap me?"

Why?

"Because you kissed me."

Was I making sense?

He sighed.

"I like you Kyra. Is that so hard to understand?"

I shook my head and he nodded.

"Do you like me too?"

I nodded and he smiled and leaned in again. I slapped him. Again.

"Kyra what the hell! Again? Seriously?"

He was mad and I completely understood, but I couldn't help myself. I was feeling panicked. He folded his arms in front of his chest and looked at me. I was surprised that he hadn't stormed out already, I would have by now, but he just sat there, looking at me.

"You like Percy", I finally spit out. He looked at me in genuine surprise, his mouth wide open.

"How'd you…"he sputtered and my heart fell. So it was true. He shook his head.

"You're wrong Kyra. I don't like Percy."

"Liar. I saw the way you looked at him, the way you spoke of him."

"No, you're not understanding me. I said I don't _like_ Percy, not that I never _liked _him."

My heart beat faster again. I told it to shut up, it was confusing me.

"And now?"

"Now I like you", he said and smiled, taking my hands into his. I was confused.

"But you liked a guy… and I'm a girl", I mumbled and he laughed.

"So?" His eyes were twinkling

"So", I said, right before he kissed me again, my hands firmly in his so I wouldn't be able to slap him again. He shouldn't have bothered. I had no intention of letting those lips leave mine again any time soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Plapper: Hey guys. Reviews? Please? Nah you don't have to. So here's my next chapter it's still moving a little more slowly than I'd like, but bear with me. We're getting there, we're getting there. I'm writing most of this during my lessons so don't judge me too much. Actually, judge all you want ^^I don't know you guys. So here it goes:**

Define Happiness for me.

Hard isn't it? I agree, but if you had asked me now, in this very moment, then I would have told you that this was it. That it was right now. Right here. Laying on the beach and looking up at the stars, my head on Nico's chest with his arms around me. That, in my humble opinion, was happiness.

A fleeting thing.

„What are you thinking?"

I was thinking about the stars, about how small they made me feel in comparison to their infinity. I was thinking about the Silver City and how unatainable it felt to me. I was thinking about his heart beating under my ear. I was thinking of the Gods and what they had in store for me. I was thinking about the future, and what it would bring. I was thinking about my father. I was thinking about my mother. I was thinking about my grandparents. I was thinking about Caleb. I was thinking about where he was now. I was thinking about Percy and Annabeth. I was thinking about what he'd had for dinner. I was thinking about everything.

„Nothing."

He chuckled and pulled me closer. His arms were so warm, so strong. I felt like I was completely safe in his embrace. Like a nice cocoon.

„Kyra... You never think nothing."

His chest rose and fell benath my head. Steady. Safe. I could hear him breath. His voice sounded deeper with my ear on his chest. It made him sound older. Sexier. Not that he needed help.

„Everything."

I sighed. Yes that was a good description. My mind was everywhere at once when the only place I wanted it to be was right here. With him. I wanted to stop thinking, to just breathe in his scent, just feel his body next to mine, just hear his voice and just see the stars. I wished my fist answer had been true.

„Are you worried about your mom?"

He'd said it carefully, almost hesitant. He knew that this was a difficult topic for me. He hadn't asked me before, but now he had. I swallowed. Was I? Was I worried about her?

„No."

It was the truth. I wasn't worried. She was in good hands. Chiron had sent a satyr to look after her. She was safe, for now. No I wasn't worried. Not about her.

„I'm not worried about her Nico, but... I wish..."

I couldn't find the words. Why were they hiding? Hiding in my throat, hiding in my chest. Not willing to come out. Why could I feel them, but not say them? What made them so hard to say?

„You wish things were different."

I nodded and he pulled me closer. Closer against his side. Closer to the comfort he didn't know how else to express.

„I wish she loved me."

No tears. Not even a crack in my voice. Just the truth. That was the first time I had ever said those words out loud. I wish she loved me. How many children had that same wish? At least half the camp wished for their godly parent to give them more love, but I didn't need my godly parent to love me. What good would it do so far away? No I wanted the parent that was here, the one who should have, was supposed to, to love me.

He didn't say anything, what was there to say? He could have told me that she loved me, but he didn't know that and he didn't pretend to know. I was glad that he didn't try to comfort me. At least not with words. His gentle hand on my hair, his closeness, those were my comfort. Those were my happiness.

I smiled at that thought.

I snuggled closer to him, reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek and then snuggling back into his embrace. He kissed my hair.

„Thank you."

„For what?"

„For being here. For trying to understand. For making me happy."

„You're welcome."

I hadn't had a dream about the Silver City since I'd visited my mother at the hospital, but that night I dreamt again. This dream was different.

I was back in the square where my dreams always began, but there was no music, no laugher, nothing. The square was empty, the fountain dry and the lady in the fountain was broken. Someone had destroyed her hands and so now she stood there with outstretched stumps. Her smile seemed sad, somehow no longer beautiful, no longer kind.

I looked around and realized that it was dark. The air seemed thick, made of syrup. The houses were no longer white and silver, no longer sparkling, but grey and dull, shadows of what they'd been. I started walking through the empty streets.

Everywhere I went I saw the same thing. Beautiful buildings crumbling, falling, decaying. The plants had whithered and rotten, the windows broken, the magic left.

My heart ached more with every step I took. This was wrong. The Silver City was in ruins. Worse. It was dead. A tear fell down my cheek.

This place had been so beautiful! So magical! So full of life! Where were the smiling faces? Where were the laughing children? The singers? The dancers? The beautiful people?

The pain in my chest grew and grew until I let it out in a long scream. This was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong!

I didn't tell Nico about the dream. We hadn't spoken about when I had over heard him and Chiron speaking and I didn't want to. With my dreams absent, I'd been able to put it out of my mind, but now I could no longer ignore it. The longing in my chest, that had subdued at the sight of my mother and at the feel of Nico's kisses, was back, stronger than ever.

„Are you even paying attention?"

No I wasn't, not at all, but I nodded anyways. Nico just raised an eyebrow at me.

„Aha... So what did I just say?"

Crap... I shrugged and grinned sheepishly. He sighed and took my chin into his hand, making me look at him.

„This is important Kyra. How are you gonna learn if you don't pay attention?"

He was convinced that I could shadow travel. After my little breakdown in the park, I had apparently taken the first step in doing so. I didn't know. I'd always been able to hide in the shadows, but I hadn't realized that I could actually shadow travel. It was something that sounded really cool in theory, but was apparently really hard to master in reality.

„Sorry, sorry, sorry. I'm paying attention now. See?"

To demonstrate my attention I gave him an intensive stare, not blinking. I was completely there. He rolled his eyes and took my hands into his.

„Ok. So now bring us to the other side of the arena."

I nodded, bit my lip and concentrated. I could feel the shadows engulf us, and opened my eyes. We hadn't moved. Not even a little. Nico was grinning at me though and I looked at us. We were transparent, fading .

„Ok, so you can make us become shadows, now you just gotta move us. Come on Kyra, picture it."

I took a deep breath and focused on where I wanted to go. It shouldn't have been too hard, but I couldn't do it. I was breathing hard now from the exhaustion, keeping us in shadow state was hard work, and eventually my concentration flickered and faded, turning us back to normal.

For the others in the arena it looked like we'd poped up out of nowhere, and they clapped, but I knew that I'd failed. Again.

„Maybe we're approaching this the wrong way", he muttered.

He furrowed his brow, like he always did when he was thinking and then smiled.

„Ok lets try this. Kyra when you manipulate darkness what do you do?"

I frowned.

„I will it to do what I want, become what I want."

„Exactly. Now do that with us."

I took his hands into both of mine and concentrated again. I could feel us becoming part oft he shadows and then I willed not us, but the shadows we were to move. I opened my eyes and felt my heart drop in disappointment. We hadn't moved!

Nico was grinning at me.

„What?", I snapped.

„You did it.", he said and I looked around. What did he mean? We were... two feet from where we'd been five seconds ago. I laughed

„I did it!"

And Nico kissed me. Gods I loved his kisses.


	9. Chapter 9

**Plapper: Ok here it goes! The adventure begins! We're on our way! ( almost) Yes I do enjoy to leave you hanging. Muahahahahaha… no seriously… but you must understand… these things take time! Rome wasn't built in a day after all ; ) **

I awoke screaming and thrashing.

_Flames in the sky, flames in the streets, the world was on fire. Burning, burning, burning to the ground. Bodies on the ground, bodies running, running, running. None of them escaped. They all burned, they all fell. Pieces of stone were falling down as lighting came from the sky. The windows shattered. Blood and mayhem everywhere. My city, my beautiful city was burning to the ground and there was nothing I could do._

I hugged a pillow to my chest and sobbed desperately. My entire body was shaking, I couldn't breathe. The pain in my chest seemed to grow, grow endlessly, I felt like I was losing it and then… a pair of strong warm arms around me. Nico pulled me close, his hand stroking my hair, his voice gentle. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but slowly his voice, his words, lifted the pain from my heart. I started to breathe normally again and fell asleep against his shoulder.

"Good morning beautiful."

I smiled down at Nico and he squeezed my hand.

"Good morning. What are you doing down there?", I asked.

He was lying on the floor next to the bed with only a pillow and a soft blanket.

"Admiring the view", he said and winked. I rolled my eyes at him.

"No seriously, what are you doing on the floor?" The bed would have been more than big enough for both of us.

I actually felt a little embarrassed as I remembered last night's events. I'd had a nightmare and shadow travelled myself into Nico's cabin. Scratch that, into Nico's _bed_.

"You kick a lot in your sleep.", he said and grinned. I did what? I felt so embarrassed. I must have kicked him right out of bed!

"Oh…"

He gave me an odd look and sighed.

"I couldn't stay there with you… you're just too …. Tempting."

He turned his face away and I could've sworn that he was blushing. I smiled to myself and kissed his hand.

"How bout now?"

I didn't need to say that twice. He immediately rolled onto the bed, nearly squishing me in the process. I laughed and shoved him off.

"Gods you're heavy!"

He kissed me.

"And you need to go brush your teeth."

He looked at me in mock outrage and disappeared into the bathroom. I quickly shadow travelled myself into mine as well, or at least I'd planned to. Instead I ended up in my closet. I sighed and stepped out of it to go brush my teeth. I was getting better at this whole shadow traveling thing, but I was far from being an expert.

When I came out of the bathroom, Nico was there, sitting on my bed, still in his PJ's (Not Percy Jackson, but Sleeping clothes. Just in case some of you were confused. Hey it happens.)

He looked hot.

I was suddenly super aware of the fact that I was wearing a giant T-shirt and baggy pants. Not exactly sexy material… He didn't look like he minded though.

I walked over to him and sat on his lap, giving him, what I had intended to be a quick kiss. He wasn't having any of that though. He pulled me closer, his hands in my hair. A part of me wondered how he could be such a good kisser, but I quickly shoved that part out of my brain. Who cared? I was the one profiting now wasn't I. After a while I pulled away. A girls gotta breathe, you know?

"Now that's a proper good morning kiss", he said and grinned. I couldn't have agreed more.

"Nico… I need to find that city."

I hadn't meant for the words to come out like that, but they had, and I knew it was true. I'd spent time putting it out of my mind. Nico made me happy, he really did, but there was a hole inside of me that wouldn't be complete until I found that city, even if I found it in ruins.

His face turned serious at once and I got of his lap to sit next to him.

"Why?"

It wasn't the question I'd expected, but it made sense. How could I describe it to him? The longing in my chest?

"It's not just a city Nico, it's home. My home. I don't know how I know this, or why I feel this way, but I do. I just know that I'm supposed to find it. Maybe it will be in ruins, maybe it doesn't even exist, I don't know. But until I try, I will always feel incomplete, unhappy. I'm happy with you here Nico, I really am. These last couple of months can easily be counted as the happiest of my life so far, but… I feel restless. I feel like there's something out there for me, something I need to do. I need to find it because it's a part of me. A part of me that's missing."

Could he understand that? Could he understand it even though I didn't understand it myself? I couldn't read his expression. His hands were folded in his lap, his eyes on the ground and then he finally spoke.

"What of the prophecy Kyra? I spoke to Chiron about this, the time you saw me there, the time I lied to you… He's afraid of this prophecy Kyra. He's afraid of what it might mean, and so am I. I do not like the gods, believe me, but… one of them is my father. What of him?

Chiron spoke of Atlantis", my heart clenched at the name, "and the way he described it… Kyra… I don't know.. It sounds a lot like this city of yours. But it also sounded like a horrible place and not a place that should be found. What if those dreams you're having, what if they are lies?"

I was quiet for a while.

"Maybe they are", I finally said, "But then I need to know. I can't keep living like this Nico. I don't want to hurt the gods, my father is one too remember? I have no reason to hurt them, but I need to find this city. I just can't believe that these were bad people. You'd understand if you'd seen them. They were beautiful and kind."

He didn't say anything and I got up. My decision was made. I was going to find this city, it just hoped I wouldn't have to do so alone.

"I'm taking a shower."

"Ok."

When I came back he was gone. I wasn't sure what this meant, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. It was time to pack. I threw together a couple of practical clothes. Jeans, boots, shirts, anything that might be useful. Then I realized that I didn't know where I was going yet.

"Rats."

I ran out the door as soon as I was dressed. Black jeans and a blue shirt, in case you cared. Yes I do wear colour every once in a while. "Hey Jason! Have you seen Percy?"

The blonde guy gave me an odd look, I didn't think he really liked me, but he put up with me because we were both Percy's friends.

"I think he's with Annabeth… at the lake."

"Thanks", I called as I ran towards the lake.

"Hey guys!"

They were obviously not too happy about being interrupted from their intense make out session, but they looked up anyways.

"Busy", Percy said and tried to return to his previous activity, but Annabeth blocked him with her hand, grinning. I had to grin too.

"What's up Kyra?"

"Do you have a second?"

"yes" from Annabeth

"No" from Percy.

I decided to go with Annabeth's answer. It suited me a lot more.

"Ok… so what do you guys know about Atlantis?"

They obviously hadn't expected the question.

"It's where my father's palace is. Why?"

I shouldn't have expected more from Percy, and so I turned and gave Annabeth an expectant look. She shrugged.

"Honestly? I don't know much more than that either. I mean in Plato's records he mentions them, but there isn't much there. The island sunk about 9'000 years ago and the city with it. What remains of it now is part of Poseidons kingdom. I've never been there, but Percy has."

I glanced at him and then looked back at Annabeth. "Anything else? It doesn't matter what."

"Ok let me see…Atlantis was named after the Titan Atlas, they called him their first father I think. The island was located near the Pillars of Hercules and they conquered many parts of Europe and Africa.P Plato describes the island as having been bigger than Libya and Asia together, although I very much doubt that. I think the Atlantians were the main enemies of the Greeks, their biggest threat. After they attacked Athens they were sunken into the ocean in a single day and night. They've never been heard of again."

Disappointment flooded through me. This information was useless! I was about to leave when Annabeth spoke again.

"I have the book in my room if you want to have a look?"

"For it is related in our records how once upon a time your State stayed the course of a mighty host, which, starting from a distant point in the Atlantic ocean, was insolently advancing to attack the whole of Europe, and Asia to boot. For the ocean there was at that time navigable; for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the pillars of Heracles,' there lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together; and it was possible for the travellers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent over against them which encompasses that veritable ocean. For all that we have here, lying within the mouth of which we speak, is evidently a haven having a narrow entrance; but that yonder is a real ocean, and the land surrounding it may most rightly be called, in the fullest and truest sense, a continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvellous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent…

But at a later time there occurred portentous earthquakes and floods, and one grievous day and night befell them, when the whole body of your warriors was swallowed up by the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner was swallowed up by the sea and vanished; wherefore also the ocean at that spot has now become impassable and unsearchable, being blocked up by the shoal mud which the island created as it settled down" – Plato

Still this did me no good! I was frustrated… Well not everyone could be a treasure finder until… I stumbled across another line in the book

"Yet there are those of whom it is believed that they fled the island, at great peril, into the sacred lands of the foreign gods."

So now I knew where I needed to go.

My bags were packed and I was ready to go. The land of the foreign gods, as Plato had called it. It sounded all poetic, but I thought I knew where he meant although... I wasn't a philosopher. I didn't understand their weird language.

I hadn't heard from Nico all day and quickly shadow travelled into his cabin. He wasn't there. A part of me wanted to go look for him, I missed him already, but the other part, the more rational part, knew that that would be a bad idea. If anyone could talk me out of this then it would've been Nico. And I didn't want to be talked out of this. I wanted to go! I needed to go.

I wrote him a quick note and put it on his bed.

"Dear Nico,

I'm leaving, tonight at nine. If you want to come with me pack some summer clothes, it's gonna be warm.

Kyra"

Yeah I know. Kinda lame, but I didn't know what else to write! Come or we're through? How dramatic would that be? No this was better. If he didn't come it would suck, but at least I hadn't gotten in too deep… I'd get over him. Plus I couldn't blame him… this trip was crazy, not very though through, and most of all dangerous… Would I have gone for him? That question was probably left unanswered.

It was five past nine and I was sitting on my bed. He wasn't coming… Five more minutes! But I knew better… Five more minutes wouldn't matter. I'd said nine. It was time to go. I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed out the door.

I bumped into Nico.

"Hi", I said, as eloquent as ever.

"So where are we going?" he asked, a sheepsish grin on his face. I grinned back and kissed him.

"Egypt."


	10. Chapter 10

**Plapper: Whatsuuup? Egypt it is huh? Well lots of fun fun things await us there. Let me know what you think will ya? **

Now I don't know if you've ever travelled to Egypt, but I can promise you, your trip was nothing like ours. Getting to Egypt as a demi-god was freaking hard!

First we had to get to the airport. Easy, we shadow travelled. Then we had to find a flight to Egypt. Not as easy, because there were no direct flights. It took us about an hour on one of the airport computers to figure out that we'd have to fly into Zurich first and then on from there, and the entire time I expected monsters to come at us. I was travelling with a child of Hades for heaven's sake! But oddly enough they left us alone.

Once we'd figured out the whole Zurich thingy, we had to wait another couple hours for the plane, then shadow travel into the plane and find some empty seats. The only thing is, to go undetected; we had to travel into the plane when it was already in the air. No problem? You're wrong! Maybe for Nico it wasn't hard, he'd had tons of practice, but I was terrified that I'd miss and plunge to my death. It would be a typical me thing to do.

"Don't worry! You'll be fine."

Easy for him to say… But I held my tongue. He meant well and so, five terrifying minutes later, we arrived in the plane toilet. It was tight and I was pushed up against him. Oh what were people gonna think when we came out of here? I blushed at the thought, but Nico seemed to have no such reservations and opened the door to step into the aisle.

The plane was pretty crowded, and I wondered why on earth so many people would want to go to Switzerland. I mean I'd heard it was pretty, but still… We had to be fast about finding our seats since we didn't want the flight attendants to realize that we weren't supposed to be there. They were already giving us funny looks as it was.

We were lucky to find two seats that were empty, although not next to each other, and for the next six hours we were up and in the air.

The rest of the journey continued in this manner. Avoiding airport security, travelling into moving machines and by the time we arrived in Cairo, we were both exhausted, smelly and in a bad mood. So naturally that was when the first monsters attacked.

We had just left the airport, our bags over our shoulders and ready to pass out in the nearest hotel room when we saw it… or should I say them? A group of decaying bodies, wrapped in rotting cloth coming our way. Mummies.

"Shit." Now excuse my harsh language. I'm not really the swearing type, I raised myself better than that, but if you saw a group of corpses walking towards you like some lame horror film, a hungry glint in their eyes and all of this after a long trip, then I believe that you would say 'shit' too. Am I mistaken? Didn't think so.

There were at least ten of them and they had definitely spotted us. They moved surprisingly fast, despite the fact that they kept losing bits and pieces… have I mentioned how gross this was? Well in case that I haven't, it was disgusting! I could see the rotten flesh on their skulls, their blackened teeth, their eyes, hanging out of their sockets. Now whoever had bound these mummies hadn't done a very good job. They were cheap mummies.

"Don't worry Kyra", Nico said, "They're dead. I can control them."

Oh right, I'd forgotten about that. My boyfriend was a necromancer… cool? Nico raised his arms and…nothing happened. Ok maybe these things took time. They were getting closer though… ok now I could smell them, which was not good for my travel sick stomach…. Goodness… they needed to shower!

"Uhm Nico… whatever you're doing… it's not working. Can I worry now?"

"Fine. We'll do this the old fashioned way then", he said and drew his sword.

I sighed and flipped my wrists where my bracelets instantly turned into blades. Gods I loved that trick.

"Well let's do this then", I said, a crazy grin on my face, and attacked.

They went down quickly and messily. After only about fifteen minutes Nico and I were covered in yellow dust and the mummies were nothing more than empty rags on the streets. I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was find a bed, roll over and die.

"Let's go Nico", I said and went to collect our bags. Everything seemed to be intact.

"Yeah… you're bleeding!" He looked at me with wide eyes and I looked down at my leg to find that he was right. One of those suckers had bitten me! Ugh, I didn't even want to think about the amount of bacteria in those teeth. I shuddered. Was I gonna have rabies now?

"Stupid mummy…", I mumbled. We'd barely gotten here and I was already injured. Way to go Kyra, way to go. A brainless zombie could beat me and I wanted to find Atlantis… Yes this was indeed a good plan. I mentally slapped myself.

"Let's find a place to crash, and then we can look at it."

He nodded and whisked us away, not even waiting for me to do so myself.

The room he'd travelled us into was simple yet beautiful. It was in soft cream colours, with a giant bed with fluffy pillows. Gods I loved fluffy pillows.

"Sit." Nico ordered and I obeyed. I was feeling a little woozy from the blood loss, plus I was beginning to feel the bite and it hurt!

"You have to take off your pants."

There were so many comments going through my head at that one, but I decided to stay a lady and not say them. Also my leg hurt. Have I mentioned that? I quickly realized that pulling my pants off would make it hurt even more and so I did the only logical thing. I cut off the pant leg. This way I stayed decent too.

The mummy had bitten me in the upper leg and it looked nasty. He hadn't actually bitten a junk out of it, for which I was grateful, but it was bleeding heavily, all over the hotel bed, and I thought it looked a little green. Yuck.

Nico looked worried.

"We're gonna need something to disinfect it. I have some amborisa and nectar, but I think we need to clean it first. "

He'd barely said the words when he was gone in a flicker of shadows. I sighed and fell back onto the bed.

It was very bad timing for a dream.

The city rose around me, but it was different, darker, surreal. It was made of shadows. The buildings flickered and faded. Became almost tangible and then disappeared into wisps of smoke. My footsteps sounded loud and out of place here, in this world of darkness. They were alive. They didn't belong.

"Sad. Isn't it?" my father said next to me and I nodded. Sad didn't even begin to cover it.

"What happened?"

"Pride, Kyra, pride. But that's not why you're here."

"Then why am I here?"

He didn't reply and so we kept walking, slowly, carefully. There was no haste, nowhere to go, nowhere to be, time didn't exist in this place. I could feel that.

"Why am I here?" I asked again.

"Because this is your home, is it not?"

I was confused. My home? How could this dark and dreary place be my home? But somehow I felt that he was right. This _was _my home. I couldn't explain it, but it felt right to be here, even though the city itself felt wrong. The city wasn't supposed to be here, but _I_ was.

"I guess it is."

My home. His home. Darkness. Shadows. I was in my father's kingdom.

"What is the Silver City doing here?", I asked.

"Ah yes. That is why you are here my dear. What is it doing here indeed? It's your heritage my child, yours to claim. Will you claim it?"

What did he mean? I was more confused now than I had ever been. My heritage?

"I don't understand!", I finally said in frustration and for the first time since he'd arrived I looked at him.

He was nothing like I had expected. A tall man, with a regal, ageless face. His eyes were pits of darkness, cold and distant, but not evil. No those eyes were void of any such thing. They just were. Neither good, nor evil. His hair seemed to be part of the darkness surrounding us, his entire form seemed to fade into the darkness. It was hard to see him clearly and trying gave me a headache.

He mustered me just as much as I mustered him, but there was no emotion on that face. Nothing to show whether or not he cared that he was standing face to face with his daughter. There was no love to be expected from this God, no warmth, no tenderness, no judgement, no nothing. He was. I was. And that was the essence of that.

"You will."

"How?"

"It's in your history Kyra and all in history can be found, if only people look for it. You must search, and you will find the truth. Then you will understand, and maybe you'll wish you didn't. Who's to say?"

The world around me began fade as the shadows reclaimed my father and spat me out into reality.

My eyes opened just in time to see Nico reappear with some medicine, some clothes and some food. Hey why waste a shadow trip, am I right? I wasn't bleeding heavily anymore, just a trickle and the wound already looked better… Actually it looked like it was already a few days old instead of a few hours. Peculiar.

If Nico noticed something weird about my wound he didn't say anything. He just started cleaning it and gave me some ambrosia to eat. I didn't say a word, my thoughts were still in my dream.

There was still so much I wanted to ask my father, and now the chance had passed and I was no closer to the Silver City than I had been before. Or was I? He'd called it my heritage. Was it my heritage to find it?

"What's wrong?"

"I had another dream."

I told him about my dream, leaving out nothing and he just sat there and listened. I could never tell what he thought these days. The open expressions he'd worn in camp were hidden carefully now. I felt my heart tighten in my chest. I needed him to trust me, to believe in me, but it felt like he was slipping away. And yet he's here, I thought and smiled. Yes indeed, he was here. Here beside me, taking care of my leg and trusting me.

I leaned down to kiss him.

He looked at me in surprise.

"What was that for?"

I smiled.

"For being here with me."

He smiled back at me.

"Always Kyra, always."

I kissed him again, suddenly desperate for his closeness. After having been in the world of the shadows I needed to feel alive. The warmth of his mouth on mine sent a current running through my body. I gently put my arms around his neck and pulled him closer and in response he gasped for air. I wasn't having any of that yet though.

My hands tangled in his hair, God's it was soft!, as his warm lips moved against mine. His left hand was on my waist, drawing circles with his thumb while his right was moving up my back and came to a rest on the back of my neck. I shuddered and he leaned against me, the kiss intensifying.

We were so close that I could actually feel his heartbeat and I smiled when I realized that it was racing. The world had disappeared into those two feelings. The feeling of his lips on mine and his heart beating close to mine.

For once it wasn't I who broke the kiss. He gently pulled away only to pull me close to his chest and hold me there. We were both breathing heavily, and I smiled into his shoulder, enjoying the feeling of his warm arms around me.

"I love you Kyra."

My heart literally stopped for a second. Did he just say what I thought he did? I didn't move, almost didn't dare to breathe and as he held me close to his chest I could feel his heartbeat quicken. Was he nervous?

And I? My heart was beating fast too, faster than it ever had before. My pulse was pounding in my ears, so loudly, I hardly heard myself whisper: "I love you too."

Was it the truth? Had I spoken the truth? The words had just spilled out of me.. I smiled as a wave of happiness flooded through me. I loved Nico! And he loved me!

This time the kiss lasted much much longer and when we broke it we were both smiling, both happy.

Happiness is a fickle thing.


	11. Chapter 11

**Plapper: Sorry, sorry, sorry for taking so long! I had a rough weekend, but here I am : ) writing you some yummy goodness. To answer some questions that came up: Yes Nico is younger than Percy, yes two years and no I never said that Percy's 18. That's Kyra. So Nico's also 18. Hope it makes more sense now : ) Awesome cake! Enjoy and let me know what you think!**

Expectations. I think they're the cause of all emotional pain. Wouldn't you agree? Because isn't emotional pain disappointment? And doesn't disappointment come when our expectations aren't met? We want people to be a certain way, we expect them to act a certain way and they usually don't, leaving us shattered. Expectations.

They suck!

Nico and I spent over a week in that hotel, changing rooms ever so often so we wouldn't be caught. We weren't exactly paying to be there after all.

So here we were in Cairo, my one and only lead, looking for a lost city. Speaking of needles in hay stacks… Oh well. It was my only lead and I was determined to follow it through. I was still confused by my dream and all my father had told me.

The Lost City seemed to be connected to my father somehow, he had called it my heritage, but I didn't understand how. I was beginning to doubt that Atlantis and the Silver City were one and the same, just because of that dream, but I couldn't give up on my only lead now.

"What are you thinking?", Nico asked.

We were in standing in front of some relicts in the **Museum of Egyptian Antiquities**, looking for any signs of Atlantis, but so far we hadn't had any luck yet. Of course not. Why would we. Yes I was getting a little discouraged, can you blame me?

"I'm thinking that this might be pointless."

I'd spoken without thinking and regretted it immediately after. I could see the relief on Nico's face, although he was trying to hide it. He'd always though that this quest was a waste of time, even though he pretended otherwise, but I could tell. It made me angry. I hadn't forced him to come along, and I didn't need his constant negativity.

"Why did you come along?"

My voice was strained, although calm. I didn't want to make a scene here, but I was fed up with his behaviour. He hadn't really been helpful at all.

"Because this is important to you and I love you."

So he always said.

I didn't reply to that, just kept staring at some old hieroglyph stone. I was so frustrated! Why wasn't I finding anything? If there weren't any clues here, then I didn't know where else to go look for them. I was at a complete loss.

"Interesting piece isn't it?"

The voice belonged to a beautiful woman. She was wearing a blue dress that gently caressed her figure; it rippled at her movements, conveying different shades and making me think of swift rivers. Her eyes were a deep brown and seemed to swirl, like the earth, I thought. She had golden hair that fell to her waist in wavy curls. Over all wow affect. I immediately knew that she couldn't be human. No one that pretty ever was.

"It is, but it's not what I'm looking for I'm afraid."

Maybe I should have been afraid of this creature, but I didn't feel threatened by her. Nico had wandered off somewhere, probably to give me my space.

"Ah sometimes the things we're looking for, aren't the things we need. Wouldn't you agree?"

She raised her perfect eyebrow at me and I had the sudden urge to go pluck mine. I shook my head to get rid of the thought.

"Who are you?" I'd decided to cut the crap.

She laughed, an odd sound, like water rushing over rocks.

"They call me El Naddha, but if that's who I am, I do not know. I do know what you're looking for though."

The name didn't ring a bell, no greek monsters came to mind, but I perked up at her last words.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"You seek the sunken City, Atlantis. Don't fret little shadow child, you have come to the right place. Your answers lie with the last rest of Djoser, pharaoh of the third dynasty. He'll have your answers."

Could it be true? Could I trust this being? She didn't seem to want to harm me, but who knew… It could be trick… Still, it was my only lead and I was going to follow it.

Nico was in an adjacent room, staring at some old pharaoh, something I hardly cared about at that moment.

"I know where we need to look." I felt renewed, alive. Finally I had another lead, a weak and unreliable one, sure, but a lead. I was smiling so widely that I was surprised my face didn't split in half. After all the disappointment this week, I needed this.

"Oh? Did you find something?" He sounded less than ecstatic. I chose to ignore that.

"Well… Yes and no… I met someone who told me that there are hints to Atlantis in the Djoser Pyramid."

"Who? Who would tell you that?" He was frowning, obviously not trusting this whole thing, so I decided to lie.

"A museum guide. I asked him if they have anything on it and he said that the only records had been found in that pyramid."

Now if Nico knew anything about Egyptian history, he'd see right through it, but it seemed like he didn't. Lucky me. He was thinking hard, realizing that his was a week lead and then choosing to ignore it for me sake. I felt angry again. More and more I began to feel like he was just coming along to humour me, but all the time thinking that his was a fool's errand. Why couldn't he just trust me? Believe in me? I knew that this was real; I could feel it with every fibre of my being. We were getting close… My heart hurt at the thought.

The Pyramids were ginormous and impressive. There was no way that they'd been built by humans alone, some godly figure must have been involved, but nevertheless they were amazing. Djoser's Pyramid was the first one they'd uncovered and the over 200 feet tall construction loomed over us, making me feel small and insignificant. Who was I to enter such a miracle? Kyra Mist, child of Darkness, that's who. I would pull this thing apart brick, by brick, if it brought me closer to my goal.

The only problem with that task were the guards… Crap.

"We're gonna have to shadow travel past them", I said to Nico who just nodded. He'd gotten fairly quiet, but I put it out of my mind. There'd be time to speak about our relationship later, although I couldn't help but think about how different things were since we'd left the camp.

"On three. One, two, three!"

Hand in hand we shadow travelled into the doorway right behind the guards. It wasn't hard to stay undetected in the darkness of the Pyramid. Hiding in Darkness was my speciality after all.

We ventured into the dark, hand in hand.

Yeah that sounded romantic didn't it? And it was, to some extent, but mostly it was because I could actually see something and he couldn't. To me the world had just taken on a different shade, colours were colder and darker, but not less vibrant. I could see the hieroglyphs marking the walls, the ancient runes telling stories of the world, maybe of my world.

We walked further and further, pulled by some unseen force. I knew we were in the right place, I could feel the magic in the air, real magic, not the Mist, magic as old as the world, in its own way.

"Do you even know where you're going?"

"Yes." And I did. I knew when I needed to take a turn, I could tell. Somehow the signs on the wall, although unreadable to me, gave me hints, they seemed to glow, although not visibly. Maybe I was going crazy, maybe I was losing my mind, but if I was, then I was enjoying this madness.

My entire body felt alive, on fire. I was haunting my mystery, and I was getting close.

All of a sudden the hallway opened up into a huge cavern. I stopped still and stared at it in awe. The cavern was bigger than it should have been and I assumed that we'd travelled quite some distance into the earth. Had the archaeologist ever even found this part of the pyramid? I doubted it. You could have fitted an entire football stadium in there, that's how big it was.

"Wow."

Yes it didn't really do it justice, but hey I'm a simple minded girl, how was I supposed to come up with anything else? Besides, I didn't feel sophisticated enough to say words like 'Exquisite'.

"What?", Nico sounded impatient, curious. I willed the Darkness in the cavern to subside, but I couldn't manage to make the entire room visible, it was just too big for that. Still it was impressive, and I could see on Nico's face that he was. He couldn't believe his eyes. I grinned at him.

"Amazing isn't it?"

He just nodded and looked around.

"Kyra! Look at the ground!"

I did and I nearly jumped for joy! The ground was one ginormous picture. A picture of a city with winding towers, a public place with a fountain and in its middle a gently smiling woman. All of this in the Egyptian style that made her look slightly awkward, but still! This was it! This was my city!

I walked around the room, taking it all in. Finally! I was finally getting close! The entire room was filled with images I'd seen in my dreams, and some I'd never seen before. It was telling the story, the story of what had happened to Atlantis, what had happened to the Silver City. I was so absorbed with the images that I didn't notice something was wrong until it was too late.

"Kyra!" there was genuine fear in Nico's voice and I turned around to find the room shifting. The floor was rising, the walls closing in at a rapid speed. I wanted to run towards Nico, but I knew that that would mean getting crushed by the moving walls.

"Run", he screamed and I did. His side of the room seemed to be normal, the walls were after me! I ran as fast as I could, but still the walls drew closer, they seemed to be growing out of the ground and soon was I surrounded, with nowhere to go, but a small tunnel that had definitely not been there before. I gulped and entered.

It didn't occur to me to shadow travel away; somehow I just knew that it would have been futile. The tunnel was definitely not an original part of the pyramid that much was clear. It had no hieroglyphs, no Egyptian signs, just dirty walls that smelled old and rancid.

After what seemed like forever it opened up into yet another large cavern, although not nearly as big as the last one. It wasn't empty either.


	12. Chapter 12

**Plapper: Well guys… here's the next chapter and I must say. This was hard to write… it really really was. So much happening…. Well let me know what you think? **

"What do you want?"

The woman in front of me pouted. She was standing in the middle of the cavern, her blue dress flowing from her body in rippling waves. The walls were glowing in a soft blue light that seemed to run down like water, giving the room a cold, but beautiful shine.

"Now now, that's no way to great an old friend?", El Naddha purred. I remained silent, flicking my wrists and holding on to Marv and Arg (yes I'd nicknamed my blades. Sue me). She frowned down at them and then looked back up at me.

"I take it you're in a bad mood honey?" Honey? Really? I got the urge to punch this Barbie doll until she couldn't remember who she was anymore. Then I realized that she already had issues on that matter anyways. Rats.

"Listen. I'm here because I need to find Atlantis, if you get in my way, I will kill you. Got that?" My voice was icy cold and I meant every word, which surprised me. I'd never killed anyone before, not even a monster and here I was threatening to do exactly that. She just chuckled.

"Now why would I want to get in your way, honey? No no, that's not my intention at all. You are powerful honey, more powerful than you know. Those little tricks you call powers are nothing compared to your full potential. You Honey can shake the world. But! There are things to be said, prices to be paid, choices to be made. Will you pay the price, honey?"

The light on the walls began to flicker and fade until I was no longer looking at dirty walls, but at shifting images. Images of a wedding, a fountain, beautiful towers. Images of Atlantis. I saw the royal wedding, I saw people laughing, dancing and singing and I saw lightning come from the skies. I saw the city burn I saw, nothing. The images were gone as abruptly as they had come.

I turned to face El Naddha.

"Show me more! Show me what happened!"

She shook her head, her beautiful locks moving like river currants.

"Ah no my dear, not yet. I spoke of a choice to be made, now didn't?"

I wanted to tell her to shove her choice where the sun didn't shine, and to show me the rest, but before I could open my mouth the images were flickering again.

This time they showed the cavern I'd been in only minutes ago. Nico was up against the wall and he was surrounded by creatures with the bodies of lions and the heads of falcons.

"What are those?", I exclaimed as I watched them screech at Nico who covered his ears, blood trickling through his fingers.

"Hieracosphinx, honey. Nasty little buggers, but good guards of secrets, I must say."

There were at least ten of them and although Nico had his sword in his hands he didn't seem to be able to wear them off. Why wasn't he using his powers?

"Ah you see… he can't. The dead here don't belong to the same God and so they don't follow his son. His powers are quite useless in this real."

Fear crept up in my chest as I watched them pounce at him. He was holding them off, but just barely. There were just too many of them!"

I started to run towards the tunnel but it shut right in front of me.

"Is that the choice you want to make honey? You can't have both my dear. You can learn the secrets in this cave, but they were sealed. The seal can only be broken by sacrificing something you love. Are you willing to give up your hearts desire for that boy? The boy who never supported you? The boy who discouraged you in your quest? The boy who doesn't understand how much this means to you, the yearning in your chest? The boy who betrayed you?"

I spun around, ready to attack, but she just stood there calmly, pointing at the wall and I turned.

I saw Nico and Chrion, speaking, and although I couldn't hear their voices, their facial expressions were clear. Nico looked grim, his dark eyes full of worry and determination and Chiron had a similar expression. He put his hand on Nico's shoulder, saying something with such intensity and Nico finally nodded. He turned and walked towards my cabin where he was about to knock on my door when it flew open to reveal me standing there. It was the night I had left.

I felt pain and anger inside of me, trying to claw its way out of me, but I couldn't let it. Not yet. I needed to stay rational about this and not let my emotions cloud me judgement.

"So Nico has to die for me to receive the Answers I'm looking for here?"

She nodded, her eyes sparkling. She was enjoying this, immensely, I could tell.

I considered my options. I was angry at Nico, I felt betrayed, but I didn't want him to die. I still loved him, despite it all and living without him was a horrific thought and yet… The call of the Silver City was ringing inside my heart, trying to overshadow my love for Nico.

I wish I could say that the decision was easy, and that I was noble and cast my quest away without a second though to save the one I loved, but I can't. I'm not that noble, and I'm not that selfless. I'd never wanted anything more in my life than to find that city, but was it worth the cost. The answer was yes.

But I wouldn't pay it. The tunnel behind me opened up and I started running as fast as my legs could carry me, fear for Nico intensifying with every step I took. The tunnel seemed longer this time around and I felt tears roll down my face as I thought back to the images of Nico being outnumbered by the Hieracosphinx. What if I was too late?

Finally I entered the huge cavern. Nico was lying on the ground on the other side, and there was no sign of the monsters anywhere. I rushed over to his side and turned him over so I could see his face. There was blood running from his ears and his eyes and a long bloody cash on his chest where one of the monsters must have scratched him. He was unconscious and barely breathing.

I felt anger course through me as I regarded his wounds.

"You're gonna be ok", I sobbed as I clutched him to my chest and shadow travelled out of there and right into our hotel room.

Turns out, someone had booked it in the meantime.

I don't know what the elderly couple thought when a teenage girl, clutching a bleeding boy, appeared in their apartment, but I didn't stick around long enough to find out. As fast as I could I travelled out and into a neighbouring hotel that was a lot shabbier, but at least empty. I'd have to go back and get our things, but first I had to make sure Nico would be ok.

He was too heavy for me to lift onto the bed and I was too exhausted to travel again just then, so I moved some pillows to the floor and tried to make it comfortable for him there. His eyes and ears had stopped bleeding, but his chest was an entirely different matter.

I looked at the wound and nearly gagged. So much blood! I looked again and realized that it looked worse than it really was. I must have made the right decision just in time.

A wave of guilt ran through me as I realized that if I'd only made my choice sooner, he wouldn't be in this state at all.

"I'm sorry Nico, I'm so sorry" I mumbled as I cleaned the blood from his face. There, now he didn't look as scary anymore. He'd have to eat some ambrosia once he woke up, but till then all I could to was stop the bleeding.

I cut off what was left of his shirt. The wound wasn't too deep, and the bleeding was beginning to stop. He'd been lucky. More guilt.

I gently wiped off the wound with his shirt. I'd need to disinfect it… My eyes wandered to the mini bar and I had an idea. I'd only seen this in movies and it had always hurt like hell, but it was better than nothing right? I grabbed a couple of the little bottles and brought them over to Nico.

He woke up screaming bloody murder as I dabbled the alcohol into his wounds.

"Shut up! We don't need hotel security coming.", I snapped at him and he looked at me with an angry and surprised expression.

"What happened?", he asked, flinching as I cleaned out the rest of his wound. I didn't answer and just shoved some ambrosia into his open mouth.

"Pfanks." He mumbled and reached for my hand. I pulled it away. Now that he no longer seemed to be dying I was royally pissed.

I bandaged him up with the sheets, a little rougher than necessary , and slunk against the bed post, my arms folded over my chest.

"How did we get out of there?"

"Shadow travel."

"I was so worried about you Kyra. Suddenly the walls started moving towards you and when I tried to follow these gryphon thingies attacked me, but they didn't look like normal gryphons… They had falcon heads…"

I didn't say anything and he looked at me, finally realizing that I was pissed.

"What happened to you?"

"I met someone."

"And"

"And she told me some stuff. About you, and Chiron. Anything you want to come clean about?"

My voice was frosty again, but I could feel it crack. I was angry and at the same time… sad. I was supposed to be able to trust Nico!

"I don't know what…"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!", I bellowed and the lights in the room faded until we were sitting in the dark. Outside the sun was still shining, but in here it was dark as night. I took a deep breath to calm myself and the shadows faded away, leaving Nico looking at me in surprise. His face changed and suddenly he looked very tired.

A part of me wanted to reach over and stroke his face, make the pain on it go away, heal his wounds and forgive him for everything, but I'd just given up my chance at Atlantis for him. I deserved some honesty.

"When you told me about your plan to go find the Silver City… I was worried. So I told Chiron. I told him that you were going to go find it and that I didn't think I could stop you, so he told me to go along, to keep you safe. "

To keep me safe and to keep me from finding it.

"The city Chiron had spoken off Kyra, it's not a good place! If Atlantis is indeed the Silver City then it needs to stay hidden… It's a bad place! And you need to stay away from it. For your own sake."

I felt frozen, unable to move, his words swirling in my head. The entire situation felt surreal, fake, as if I was stuck in a dream and about to wake up. I couldn't believe it. He'd never been on my side, not once.

I could see the pain in Nico's eyes, his hand reaching out to me, but not daring to touch me. I could tell that he was sorry and that he thought he was doing the right thing, but I didn't care. I'd given up everything for someone who didn't believe in me, someone who betrayed me.

"I love you Kyra."

I snapped.

"You love me?", my voice was deadly calm and my green eyes stormy and wild. How could he dare to say he loved me after admitting that what he'd done?

"You don't love me Nico. You don't even know me. I should have left you to die in that cavern."

Those were my last words before I shadow travelled away, catching one last glimpse of the hurt expression on his face.


	13. Chapter 13

**Plapper: What's up guys? So I already had this chapter written, nice and dandy and then guess what? The computer crashed… yup yup! So here's my second attempt, but I've learned my lesson, I promise you. I'll be hitting the save button every two seconds.. just did… and again… you get the point. Two hours of work gone… Puff! I nearly cried, but then I didn't because that would've been unwomanly… well then here it goes. TAKE 2!**

Two years.

That's how long it had been since the events in Egypt had unfolded. Two years in which I'd lost everything. Two years in which I'd seen more than many people see in an entire life time. Two years in which everything had changed.

Two years were a bloody long time.

And here I was, back at the beginning. I'd sworn I'd never return, not after all the pain and betrayal, yet here I was. New beginnings often started at old endings. I wondered if they'd even recognize me… I no longer did. The girl in the mirror was a different one than the girl that had stepped through these gates, little over a year ago. That one was gone. She'd grown up. I'd turned 20 a few short months ago, but I felt older, so much older.

I thought back to the events that had brought me here, back to the beginning. After I'd left Nico I'd been discouraged, heartbroken and alone. He'd returned to camp and I? I'd sulked in empty hotel rooms pitying myself. No one had come for me and I'd lost hope. Ironically enough hope found me in the form of the death of my mother…

_Flashback_

_It was raining. The raindrops fell onto the coffin in a steady, soft pitter patter. Soft and yet, unbearably loud. How could raindrops be so loud? We weren't many. My grandparents, a doctor, an old high school friend named Ella, the pastor and I. _

_Pitter patter._

_ The pastor began to speak, trying to be heard over the deafening sound of the rain, his words dancing in between the raindrops. _

_"Ayleen Mist…" _

_pitter patter_

_ "mother and daughter"_

_ pitter patter_

_ "grace of god" Which god? Which god dear pastor?_

_ pitter patter_

_ "remembrance"_

_ pitter patter _

_"Love" _

_pitter patter _

_"Amen." _

_pitter patter_

_Pitter patter_

_Pitter patter_

_The rain ran over my hair, my face, I was completely drenched, my black dress sticking to my skinn, my hair in my face. Good. Maybe some of the rain in my eyes would pass as tears, tears that just wouldn't come. I stared at the coffin as it slowly sunk into the ground; I dropped my white rose and walked back to stand alone. I felt nothing. The woman who'd given birth to me was dead, shouldn't I be sad? But there was no room for sadness… No room for pain. I'd cried too much in the last couple of months. Too many tears, wasted on a foolish love. A love for which I'd given up everything and gained nothing. Nothing at all._

_A gentle touch on my shoulder ripped me out of my gloomy thoughts and I turned to see my grandmother standing there. Her right hand, enclosed in a soft black leather glove, rested on my shoulder and in her left she held a small silver chest, about as big as a shoebox. The rain dripped from her big black hat unto the box as she looked at me with those strong green eyes.  
She wasn't old, maybe mid-sixties, and had a grace about here that I couldn't help but admire. A strong heartless woman, I thought. _

_She handed me the box and met my eye. I was slightly shorter than her, but not by much. There were no tall women in our family._

_"I guess it's time that you had this", she finally said as I took the box into my hands, then she turned and left without another word. _

_I looked down at the chest in my hands and my breath caught for a second. It was ornamented with beautiful roses and in the middle stood a beautiful woman with a gentle smile, her arms stretched out in a kind and inviting gesture. Atlantis_

Yes… the silver chest had started it all. I'd finally had another lead to follow. I'd finally found hope again and it had come from a most unexpected place. At the time it hadn't made sense to me, but it hadn't mattered either.

_Flashback_

_I ducked and the blade missed my head by inches. That'd been close! I jumped and rolled as the blade came at me again and quickly got to my feet, paring the blade inches before my face. Our noses almost touched and Khai grinned, his blue eyes lighting up against his dark skin._

_"Ready to give up yet?" _

_"Never", I said as I held his Khopesh in place with my stronger right hand and twisted my left blade in between the blades using it as a lever. He stepped away, as not to lose his blade._

_"Not bad, not bad Kyra, but you forget… I'm the best" I laughed. We'd see about that. He feinted an attack on my left side and I spun around, ready to block the blade that was bound to come at me from above. It didn't. Instead he was suddenly behind me, his blade at my throat. I could feel the cold metal pressed against my skin, not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough for me to know, that the slightest movement would. I didn't dare to swallow._

_"I told you sweet thing, I told you", he said has he gently kissed my neck. I shivered as my skin lit up at his touch. His blade was still at my neck, but his left hand was on my hip. I dropped my blades and turned around so we stood face to face, our noses barely touching. He was smiling, showing off the dimples on his cheeks. _

_"I guess you are", I said right before our lips met._

Khai. I could still remember the way he smelled of fresh dirt and spices. He'd taught me how to fight, not in the ancient Greek way, but in the way of the desert nomads. He'd truly been the best, but in the end I had beaten him. Although just barely. Unconsciously my hand moved to the soft scar running from my left temple down to me collar bone. Yes, just barely.

_Flashback_

_The woman before me was old, at least a hundred years, but most likely more, and yet her eyes seemed young. Maybe even younger than mine, Khai had told me that I had old eyes. She was small, tiny even, as she sat there on her huge orange and red pillow, her hands folded neatly in her lap. Djeserit, the great -great- grand-mother of Khai. Nomadic life was very healthy it seemed. She'd seen the world at war more than once during her life time. She'd seen mortals fight, and gods as well. I didn't press her to speak, she'd speak in time, and so I studied her for a while._

_Her face must have been beautiful at some time, and still was, in its own way, beneath those wrinkles lining her face. Her blue eyes were hidden behind those heavy lids. A purple shawl, with golden coins at the hem lined her face, and made a soft sound every time she moved. She wore a white tunic, as it was custom with the nomads. I looked down on mine, I'd never worn so much white before, but somehow I still liked it. She didn't open her eyes when she finally spoke and her voice came over her lips strong, yet gentle, like an old melody._

_"It's an old tale my child… Very old, passed on from generation to generation, almost forgotten now. There was an island once, a beautiful place as big as Africa. The grass was always green, the flowers always bloomed and there was peace, always peace and in the centre of that island rose the Silver City, as beautiful as a diamond and as indestructible. _

_The creatures that lived there were beautiful and kind, full of ancient magic. They were old, maybe as old as the earth itself, and many worshiped them as gods. They themselves worshiped the gods of old, the earth, the sky and the elements. _

_Then new gods came, younger gods, gods that claimed it was their right to rule. The beautiful people didn't care much; they lived in their world and needed no more. They were happy being their own gods, at least for a while. People started traveling to the Silver City, sharing their goods and sharing stories, and soon the beautiful people grew curious. What was out there in that other world?_

_Many began to explore the world outside of their own and they brought back tales of wars, of gold and of gods, so powerful that they could light up the sky. The beautiful people grew scared and closed their gates, allowing no one to enter or leave. _

_Many years passed, and the fears of the past were forgotten. A new king arose, Gadeiros, a proud and greedy man. He decided that ruling his kingdom was no longer enough. He wanted to be worshiped and so he marched on the noblest city of the new gods, intending to overthrow their power and rise above them all._

_His actions brought doom to the entire island as those gods unleashed their wrath, and the entire city was burnt to the ground in one single night, leaving nothing but death and ashes. To cover up their horrible deed, the gods sunk the city into the ocean and banned all stories of that place._

_They thought that they'd destroyed them all, but some had escaped. The king's son, his wife and some of their closest friends had realized the folly of Gadeiros and escaped to the shore where they lived as simple nomads._

_There is a prophecy though, my dear, an old story, that one day the heir to the throne would rise and bring the Silver City back out of the Darkness of time. "_

It was an interesting tale that the wise old woman had told me, and mostly true. The new gods that had attacked the Silver City were the Olympians. They'd destroyed and entire nation because of the selfish acts of one man. No they hadn't attacked because of the Atlanteans had marched on Athens, they'd attacked because they'd felt threatened. More and more dreams had put the puzzle together. The lost world wasn't just my city, it was the entire Island. My heritage.

_Flashback_

_"Are you ready to pay the price now honey?" Oh the world was a cruel place and so often new beginnings came with old endings._

_"Yes." _

_She laughed, cruel sound like rocks grinding against each other under water. _

_"They've taken everything from you honey…And what will you do? Now that you know the truth?" _

_I stepped into that cavern, my heart beating loudly. There was no going back now. Revenge was a one way road._

_"I will make them pay."_

I'd done enough reminiscing, it was time to get going. I stepped through the giant gates and the camps protection unhindered.

"Well then Kyra… Let's get this party started."


	14. Chapter 14

**Plappermouth: Hey guys! Loved the reviews! And I will take them into consideration and work on it : ) Pinky swear! Sorry for taking so long with the update! It's almost Christmas time…so… MERRY CHRISTMAS my little followers! I hope you have a wonderful time with lots of presents and love and cookies and candy canes and a songs and whatever else is needed for it to be a wonderful time. I love Christmas guys, I really really really do. So enjoy : )**

Home… What is a home? Is it the place we live? The place we rest, put our feet up, laugh and sing? Or is it, maybe, the place our heart longs for when we do these things? Home…I couldn't remember when I'd felt home for the last time, but it wasn't here, not in this cabin. It was as beautiful as the day I'd first arrived, but it held no comfort for me now. Nothing had changed here and yet everything felt different. I felt different.

I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair had grown quite a bit since I'd chopped it off short after my mother's death. It almost touched my shoulders in a black wavy mess. My emerald eyes had lost some of their glow, somewhere along the road, although they were still beautiful. I had always liked my eyes, but now their soft innocence had been replaced by hard experience. These eyes had seen too much. Old eyes Khai would have said. A pang of regret went through me. I missed him.

And then there were the scars. They shone white against my suntanned skin. I gently touched the fine white line that ran from my left temple down my neck to my collarbone. It hadn't been a deep wound and yet the scar hadn't faded, maybe it never would, just like the part of my soul underneath the scared skin that wouldn't heal. Not even in time.

Now that I was back here, memories of who I'd been came flooding back to me. Memories of laughing at the lake, of flying the pegasi, of kissing under the stars. Happy memories that filled me with bittersweet feelings. Sweet because of their innocence and bitter because they were irrevocably lost… I cast the thoughts aside. I'd been happy in my ignorance, something I could no longer afford. I wasn't here for that…

I sat down on my bed and concentrated. One of the nifty little tricks I'd learned these last two years was how to access the shadows. Shadows and darkness can be found every and anywhere, and they're all connected, that's how shadow travel worked. To shadow travelling one had to become one with the shadows and step into my father's realm for a short moment. It wasn't just traveling from one place to another, but walking through one door and exciting another, almost like using a corridor. Most of the time it happened so fast one didn't realize what was going on, but with practice and a lot of patience, it was possible to stay in that realm, that hallway between places. It was also possible to hide things in it and that's where I'd stashed my silver chest.

I concentrated and imagined a window, just big enough for the chest, opening in the darkness. I felt it rather than I saw it, a cold flickering feeling in the air before me as the real world gave way to the shadows. Gently I stretched out my hands and grabbed for the chest. I had to be careful, the beings in the shadows weren't always friendly, but most of the time they left me alone. I was the daughter of their master after all.

The chest, as always, felt cool to the touch and I sighed at its familiar feeling. I pulled it through the gate and put it on the bed next to me, admiring the beautiful symbols and images. I gently stroked over the lid with my left hand and then, almost reverently, I opened it.

Inside lay an old papyrus scroll, a silver diadem with softly glowing crystals, a silver rose and a large ancient silver key with runes engraven upon it. My hand hovered over the diadem and my heart swelled in my breast. Soon, soon it would be mine… anticipation coursed through me, tickled my fingertips, willing me to pick it up and put it on my head where it belonged. I closed my hand in a fist and took a deep breath. Not yet Kyra, I told myself, not yet.

My hand gently touched the silver key, feeling the runes edges and I shuddered. It held power, power so strong that I was afraid to touch it for long. Atlanteans of old had created this and other keys with their last will and power. It was pure magic, only held together by the powerful runes that seemed to run along the surface like water. It wasn't time for that yet either, but I felt no regret when it came to that. The key scared me, more than it should have.

I moved my hand to the old scroll. It was magic, like the other artefacts in the chest, and told the story, the true story, of Atlantis. It was a map that would help me find my city and raise her from the shadows. And the first stop was here…. Here in this blasted camp. Gently, careful not to harm the precious parchment, I unrolled the scroll. Images flickered, shifted and faded, showing me the paths I had to take. The seven keys to unlocking Atlantis.

Finally I moved to the silver rose, but I didn't touch it. I could feel it radiating the evil it contained and felt sick as I thought of how it had gotten here and what I was about to use it for. Could I really do it? My heart hurt at the thought, and yet I knew no other way. The rose was beautiful, its silver petals glowing in an otherworldly kind of light, inviting me to touch it, but I knew better. I pulled myself from the hypnosis of the rose and closed the lid. There were things to do before that part of the plan would come into action.

No one knew that I was here yet; I'd made sure of that by only moving in the shadows. I'd been careful to stay away from Nico, knowing that he would have sensed me, but he hadn't. I was sure that if he had he would have come look for me. As always when I thought of Nico I felt a bitter wave course through me. What we'd shared hadn't been love, although I'd thought so at the time…. It had been infatuation, nothing more. Sure, he'd made my heart race and my head spin, but in comparison to what I'd shared with Khai, my feelings for Nico seemed weak and meaningless… yet I couldn't forgive what he'd done…. Forgiveness didn't come easily to me, yet I'd have to pretend to be over it if I wanted my plan to work.

Once again I thought of Khai… about the way his chocolate brown hair always fell over his sky blue eyes, about the dimples on his cheek when he smiled that brilliant white smile… about his broad shoulders and strong arms that could swallow me hole and make me feel tiny, weak and safe. About his gentle lips on mine. My heart hurt and tears started to form in the corners of my eyes. Angrily I pushed the thoughts away. He was gone, and no amount of heartache would ever bring him back. Just one of the many prices I'd had to pay.

It was almost midnight when I reopened the silver chest. I'd done what needed to be done, I'd protected my future allies from the evil I was about to unleash, all without them noticing I was there. It had been particularly tricky with Nico... I wasn't entirely sure whether he'd noticed me or not, but that couldn't be undone now. Maybe he'd think he'd imagined it… The silver rose was lying there, whispering to me in my mind… it was excited to be used. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My heart felt heavy with guilt as I gingerly grabbed the silver rose between my thumb and forefinger and shadow travelled to the top of Zeus fist.

I could feel its poison trying to burn my skin and work its way into my soul, but my resolve was stronger. It was a thing borne out of the darkest of magics in Atlantis, an abomination, but one that had its uses. I could feel the darkness pressing against my skin, caressing it and reassuring me. I was doing what needed to be done.

My shadow gently detached itself from my feet, something that had taken me a year to achieve. It was a painful process to learn to let go of your shadow, but it was well worth it. Shadows could travel between the worlds… it was my shadow which had brought me the silver rose and it was my shadow that now took it into its inky hands crushing the petals between its fingers and it out to me. I took a deep breath and blue the dust out over the camp. A silver poisonous fog settled over the entire area, engulfing it and spreading its disease.

I sat in my cabin and waited as my conscious ate away at me. I had just condemned the entire camp to a painful and miserable existence as shadows if my plan failed. Innocent people, people who had never harmed me in any way. They wouldn't die… they would just fade and become creatures of darkness, bound to serve for eternity. That was the curse of the silver rose, it robbed you of life and death at the same time. I pressed my hands against my eyes, trying to fight the pain in my chest. It was a necessary risk, I knew that, and yet… a tiny part of me doubted that. I shook my head, it was too late to go back now.

My shadow had returned to me and was now sitting on the bed across from me with its legs crossed and its hands in its lap. "You know what you have to do", I said and it nodded, flickered and faded away. It was getting lighter outside and if I wanted my story to be believable then I had to be outside the gates before they awoke. Shadow travel was out of the question, with my own shadow on a mission. You didn't want to enter the Darkness shadowless. Not if you wanted to emerge alive.

I snuck through the gates as the first rays of sunshine crept over the hills bathing the camp in a warm and golden light. I shivered, suddenly feeling cold, lonely and cruel as I looked back at the camp. It looked so peaceful…


	15. Chapter 15

Plappermouth: Hey guys! Here's a new chapter, please let me know what you think. There's a rather long flashback in there, but I felt like it was time to give some depth to certain aspects in the story ; ) Oh also: I'm not staying with Greek Mythology. I'm gonna be mixing up all sorts of stories in here, but I'll try to stay true to them ;) Just spicing it up ( I thought you'd noticed with the whole Egypt stuff ) Well just let me know what you think. Also I won't be updating for at least another week, because I'm gonna be off skiing! Yeeeeeha :D So I wish all of you A HAPPY NEW YEAR! : D

As the sun slowly covered the world in shades of red and gold, I sat beneath a tree leaning against it with my eyes closed and my spirit far away. I visited my shadow, not taking control, but observing quietly. The camp was quiet, more so than it should have been at this hour. There should have been campers on and about, training, or getting ready to train, but instead there was nothing. An eerie stillness lay over the entire site.  
My shadow crept into the cabins and observed the sleeping figures. They looked calm and quiet beneath the silver dust on their skin. The dust kept them prisoners in whatever dream they'd had at the moment the dust had struck. I hoped that they were pleasant dreams at least…  
Nothing moved, nothing stirred, not even the birds in the trees or the nymphs. Everyone and everything that had been touched by the silver mist was now a slave of the dream world, doomed to sleep until they faded into shadows. My shadow didn't care about any of that, as shadows are known to do. It had a task to fulfill , nothing more.  
Gently it swept over the camp, making sure that everyone was out cold, save those who mattered. It passed over children and teenagers as they frowned in their sleep and struggled with the surreality that would be their reality until help arrived. Help only I could provide. That was the plan. They'd have to run to me, there was no other way to heal them and with Chiron out cold as well as the oracle, they wouldn't know what else to do. The Gods themselves were powerless against the evil of the Silver Rose.  
The shadow drifted to the big house, sat on the steps and waited.  
Itdidn't have to wait long. Soon the only few who'd been spared by the evil curse, Nico, Annabeth and Percy, came running towards the big house. They didn't see ityet, they wouldn't until itwanted them to, but ran right through itand into the house only to find Chiron fast asleep, covered in silver dust.  
"What's going on?", Annabeth said, an edge to her voice. Percy put his arm around her and held her close.  
"I don't know… And why aren't we under the curse ourselves?" A good question, I thought, but the shadow didn't reveal itself yet. Let them fret first, let them be afraid, so afraid that they'll come running to me.  
Nico said nothing and I looked him over. I'd been startled when I'd seen him, although just for a second. He had changed it seemed. He was still tall and skinny, but he carried himself with more… strength, for lack of a better word. His eyes that had always been sad and distant, even when he was with me, were awake and bright, filled with suppressed fear.  
Annabeth and Percy turned to Nico and gave him a soft look.  
"Is Carry awake?"  
Nico shook his head and clenched his fists.  
Carry? Who was Carry? I'd never heard the name before, but Nico's reaction let me guess that she must mean something to him. Interesting, I thought even as the green and ugly monster tried to raise its head. I supressed the misguided jealousy. Nico meant nothing to me. This, however, could be used to my advantage.  
Annabeth carefully put a hand on Nico's shoulder and squeezed it. "We'll wake them up, somehow, I promise."  
Well that was my queue.  
I decided it was time get the game started. My shadow had shifted until it no longer resembled me, I wasn't taking any chances, and was now leaning in the doorway, chuckling. The three of them spun around, their hands grabbing for their weapons. My shadow spoke, its voice icy cold, and fractured like a bad radio signal. Shadows weren't meant to speak, and the sound made them shudder.  
"Fighting Shadows?" It laughed and my head began to hurt. I hated this part of the plan… Percy and Annabeth gave each other quick glances, sizing up the enemy and getting ready to attack,no doubt, while Nico looked at the shadow with an ond expression. Could he recognize me?  
"Who are you?" he asked his voice deadly cold.  
The shadow chuckled again, a sound like ice scratching against windows.  
"I am a messenger. The Lost City awakes, and she wants her revenge. Too long she's been hidden in the shadows by jealous gods and lies."  
"The lost city…", Nico mumbled and his eyes opened wide in surprise as he realized what that meant. "Atlantis!", he exclaimed his hand tightening around his sword hilt. He obviously still wasn't a fan  
The shadow chuckled again.  
"Ah yes, Atlantis… The Silver City, she has many names… I believe you've heard them before, from one of your friends." It snickered at the last word and a frown appeared on my face, just outside the gates. My shadow was getting carried away…  
"She has gotten close my dears… a little too close for her liking perhaps? But she is wavering, distracted by morals...she needs... motivation." It chuckled and they shuddered. I nearly pulled out, not wanting to witness the rest, but I had to. Shadows were nasty creatures born outo f your darkest fears and secrets.  
"Who's she?", Percy asked as he looked at Annabeth and Nico. Annabeth clearly knew, but she looked at Nico as if hesitating to say something. When he didn't react she slowly, carefully said my name. Percy raised an eyebrow and gave first Nico and then the Shadow an odd look.  
"What motivation are you talking about? And what does this have to do with us?" Annabeth sounded angry, her bone sword was shaking in her hand as if she had to restrain herself. I hoped she'd stay in control… Fighting with shadows was a nasty business.  
"Ah but it has everything to do with you… despite it all she considers this camp her home and she would hate to see them all suffer" he chuckled again and the three shuddered "They are suffering you know? Terribly so, and if you don't get the cure in time, they'll suffer for eternity."  
"What have you done to them!" Nico screamed his sword raised high and his eyes blazing. The shadow moved his hand and Nico flew through the air, yanked by his own shadow, and into a wall. He hit it hard, and I flinched. That hadn't been necessary!  
"Ask your friend." The shadow laughed and disappeared before their eyes only to appear in front of me. I opened my eyes and regarded it with a careful look.  
It had done what I'd asked, but still somehow I felt like I wasn't as in control as I wanted to be. By releasing it from myself I had given it some life of its own. I'd do good not to forget that. I concentrated and the shadow returned to my feet where it belonged. I sighed as we reunited. I always felt a little hollow without it, a little surreal.  
Well then. Now it was time for me to come to the rescue. I smirked at the thought. My plan was working wonderfully, they'd have no choice but to help me raise Atlantis and bring about their own destruction. In a movie I would have laughed diabolically, but since this was real life, I didn't. Instead I started running up the hill towards the gates, my blades in my hands and a worried expression on my face.  
It was show time.

The three of them were still in front of the Big House, Nico sitting on the steps his head in his hands, Percy and Annabeth next to him, holding hands and talking. They didn't notice me until I was almost upon them.  
My hair was wild and all over the place, I was panting and sweating from the long run and my eyes were crazed as I looked around.  
"Where is he!", I looked at them and they gave me a curious look.  
"Kyra…", Annabeth started, but I cut her off.  
"Where's the shadow? He has a poison. We need to stop it befor…" I let my sentence trail out and looked at them as if I just noticed them. I let my blades drop to my sides and slumped my shoulders as my face fell.  
"I'm too late." My voice sounded beaten and drawn. Annabeth nodded and I clenched my jaw and balled my hands in to fists, there were actual tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I was impressed by my own acting. Slowly I looked up at them.  
"But why aren't you under the curse?", I asked my voice strained, yet curious, with a flicker of hope in it, as if the curse perhaps hadn't worked after all.  
"We don't know. Kyra what's going on?", Percy said with an edge in his voice. I sighed and sat down on the grass in front of the Big House. When I spoke I didn't meet their eyes, but just looked out over the camp. I could feel their stares on me, but I ignored them.  
"After Egypt I continued my search and for over a year I found nothing and then, maybe six or seven months ago I stumbled across something. Something big. I found the first of seven keys to unlocking Atlantis. The walls around the Lost City are beginning to crumble and with every key found they grow weaker. That's why I stopped searching, I realized that the price I had to pay was too great, too dangerous… But I stopped too late. I was careless and foolish and when I took that key I unleashed something, the shadows of old are stirring.  
The poison he used… It's rare. It only grows in Atlantis. I've stumbled across some old records that describe that plant. It was created by old mages, evil mages, who were hunted by the Kings and Queens of Atlantis, but never quite put down. The rose will slowly eat away at the soul until nothing remains but a willless shadow, doomed to serve for eternity.  
And the only cure... it's in Atlantis. That's why the shadow chose this poison... to save everyone at camp... to saver our friends, we have to unlock Atlantis herself."  
They said nothing and I stayed silent as I looked out over the strawberry fields. Some of the dismay on my face was genuine. Genuine because of the guilt I felt as I told that lie, or better that half-truth. I was betraying their trust, gambling with the lives of their friends. How had I become like this?  
As an answer my mind wandered back to Khai as it so often did.  
Flashback  
"Just a little bit further Kyra" he said, excitement in his deep voice. His voice always made me think of a song, a melody that sounded familiar although I just couldn't place it. I'd told him that once and he had laughed. "I'll sing you a song anytime you want", he'd said with a wink, and I'd sworn to make him keep that promise. His songs were beautiful.  
We were climbing up the dunes in the middle of the desert. It was hot, dry and almost time for sunset. I was sweating from the effort, my white robes clinging to me and moving gently from time to time as a lonely breeze past us by. We'd been walking for hours, since he hadn't let me shadow travel here. "It's not worth it if it's easy", he'd said. I sure hoped it'd be worth it. I was getting grumpy.  
He stopped so abruptly that I walked right into his strong back. I put my arms around him and rested my head against his back, feeling his chest move as he took heavy breaths. I was glad that I wasn't the only one who was tired from the journey.  
"Look Kyra!" he said and I stepped around him to see what he was looking at. My breath caught as I watched the spectacle unfold before me. The sun was setting and with its last rays it was embracing the sand before us. The light of the sun seemed to hit the sand below us at just the right angle, dancing and reflecting of the surface, creating the illusion that the desert was on fire. In some places it was flaming gold and in others red as blood, but beautiful, wherever I looked.  
"That's amazing!" I exclaimed, as I looked at it in pure awe, feeling that those words just didn't quite cover it. "I know", he said, but he wasn't looking out at the flaming desert. He was looking at me. I felt my blood rush to my cheeks, turning them bright red as I nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, not quite looking at him, but not quite looking at the sensation before me either. My heart was beating faster and faster in that way hearts are known to do when they feel that something is about to happen.  
He chuckled and gently took my hand that was still behind my ear in his, turning me so I faced him. His eyes sparkled purple in the red of the sinking sun. I looked up at him, he wasn't very tall, just a head taller than me, but his broad shoulders always made me feel tiny. I swallowed, realizing how dry my throat was, as my heart beat loud and hard against my ribs.  
"I love you Kyra" he said, his voice soft deep and full of that wonderful melody that made my skin tingle, "I love you more than I thought I'd ever love anyone and I can't ever see my life without you. I know this sounds cheesy, but it's the truth… to me you're like the desert on fire, a wondrous sensation, that I can't comprehend, only admire, and now that I've seen it I don't ever want to miss it again."  
My heart beat so loud that I barely heard my own words over the rush of blood in my ears. I reached up and gently laid my right hand on his cheek. His skin was warm and gruff from the beard stubbles there. He needed to shave. I smiled at the thought, because it was an odd thing to think in such a situation. He looked into my eyes and I smiled. "I love you too."  
He lifted me up by the waist over his head and then lowered me down so I could kiss him. I felt weightless, like a feather, in those strong arms and as the night fell over the dunes, diminishing the flames, I felt a happiness in my chest that I'd never known to be possible.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! I am so sorry about this taking soooo long :/ but I swear I had good reasons, as to why I made you wait. Well here's the next chapter, it's short but I'm already half way through the next one, so no worries. I won't make you wait this long again. So enjoy, and tell me what you think?**

"Kyra! Kyra"

My eyes fluttered open, taking in three worried faces looming over me. Well two worried faces and one suspicious face… I was disoriented and it took me while to realize that I was lying on the ground, looking up at Percy and Annabeth who were kneeling next to me.

"What happened?" I asked with genuine confusion. The last thing I remembered was Khai… no I'd told them about the curse, and then I'd thought of Khai and then…Well then it was a blank.

"You collapsed. We thought that the curse must have gotten you too", Annabeth said, her voice genuinely concerned. Guilt washed over me in a hot wave, and disappeared abruptly as I remembered why I was doing this.

I felt weak and shaky, but I got up nevertheless, ignoring Percy's outstretched hand. I needed to look strong! But what had caused me to faint? Was it Khai's memory? The memories did seem to be getting stronger, more vivid and for a second I caught myself wishing that I could disappear into them completely, leave this world behind. I shook my head in hopes to shake of the heaviness that had wrapped itself around my heart like blanket. There was no going back, only forward.

"I'm sorry… I guess I was just exhausted. I've been following that shadow for days… didn't get much sleep."

That last part was true at least. I did feel tired, more tired than I should've felt at my age… the last two years were a heavy burden, a burden that wouldn't lift until I found Atlantis. I straightened my shoulders and looked at each of them, even Nico, not shying away from the suspicion in his eyes. _Doubt me all you want_, I thought, _I'm your only hope_.

"The poison can be cured… but the antidote has to be won from the same plant that was used to poison the camp."

I saw a flicker of hope cross Nico's face, lifting some of the worry from it. I felt a pang of jealousy that I quickly supressed. I had no feelings left for Nico, I was just irritated. Somehow I guess I'd hoped that he'd been pining over me, miserable because he blew it, and here he was, obviously in love with another. _You fell in love with another too,_ a voice in my mind told me, but I told it to shut its pie hole.

"Where can we find this plant?" Percy asked, his voice full of determination, his hand gripping Riptide tightly.

Annabeth gave me a look that told me that she already guessed the answer, and Nico was looking out over the cabins, a frown on his face.

"Atlantis."

The reactions were about as enthusiastic as I'd expected, which is to say not at all. Annabeth nodded as if she'd expected as much, whilst Nico expressed feelings of outrage. Percy, as usual, didn't seem to grasp the essence of what had been said.

"Atlantis? My father's kingdom? That shouldn't be a problem, now should it? I'll just go down there, or call Tyson and we'll heal them all in no time."

I opened my mouth to explain, but Annabeth was faster. She put a hand on Percy's arm, making him turn towards her.

"Not that Atlantis Percy… I think Kyra's speaking of another Atlantis, although I don't completely understand that either…." She looked at me questioningly; waiting for me to explain. I nodded and sat down on the steps of the Big House. I was still feeling a little wobbly.

"The Atlantis you're speaking off Percy is just a remainder of the true Atlantis…. A skeleton so to speak. When Atlantis was destroyed by the Gods, they made a deal with one of the old Gods… My father… They'd worshiped him and they'd promised him servitude if he preserved them. Or at least their king did… I don't know if the people all agreed to this, but maybe they thought it would be better than drowning, or burning. Erebos agreed. So when the city was destroyed its idea, its essence if you want, was preserved.

Erebos took it up into his kingdom, turning the city and its inhabitants into shadows and thus making them immortal. They've been living as shadows for the last 10'000 years, and now they want to escape and return to the real world. Some of them were powerful magicians; they were evil and corrupt and created things such as the silver rose. They've been growing stronger… Strong enough to enter dreams and some can even enter this world and do damage, although only for a short amount of time, and only as shadows. That's what you saw today...

Some of them believe that they have served my father long enough and that it is now his turn to return them unto the real world, but my father won't help them. He's not stopping them either though, and so they have poisoned first my dreams, and now this camp to get what they want. They believe that the only way to save the camp is to bring Atlantis out of the shadows, and they think that I'll do it… That _we _will do it."

I looked up at them when I said those last words, making it clear that they'd been pulled into this war. There was a moment of silence after that in which Annabeth, Percy and Nico exchanged looks, thinking about what to say, and I took a deep breath. My vision was beginning to blur again and it took every ounce of self-control to not pass out again. What was wrong with me?

"Is it the only way?", Annabeth asked carefully. She was smart and had picked up on my wording. I took another deep breath, pushing away the darkness in my eyes. I'd need a good long nap after this.

"Maybe... you see Atlantis is hidden in the shadows… so if they can enter this world for a short amount of time, maybe I can do the same. The shadows are my father domain after all… but the door would still have to be opened, just a crack, so I could enter completely. Atlantis has been sealed by powerful enchantments that need to be unlocked. Enchantments made by those who don't want Atlantis to ever come out of darkness again. There are seven keys. I have one already in my possession, so there are six left to find. If we can find those keys, then maybe we can open the door just far enough for me to slip inside without them coming out and I can get the cure."

I looked them straight in the eye, my back straight and my face determined. Once again most of what I'd said had been true, just not the part with cracking the door open. I had every intention of swinging that door wide open and unleashing the entire world of Atlantis unto this one.

We were in the middle of discussing our plans when I fainted again, slipping into memories. I could hear them call my name but I had no control over my body. I barely felt my head hit the floor when I was already submerged in the past. This time it wasn't a pleasant one….


	17. Chapter 17

**_Ok guys, so here's more of Kyra's years away from camp...I know it's a long flashback, but I felt like we need to fill in some gaps here, so here's another piece of the puzzle. Enjoy :)_**

_Flashback_

_I was disoriented when I woke up and then smiled as I remembered. Khai and I had hiked up to a beautiful oasis near the camp and fallen asleep there, talking under the stars. I could feel a warm breeze in my face and I opened my eyes to see the green leafs of a palm tree swaying above my head. The sun was already fairly high in the cloudless sky and I wondered why Khai hadn't woken me up before now… usually I never slept this long. I stretched out on the thin blanket I was laying on, moving my stiff limbs and lazily looked around._

_I frowned when I couldn't see Khai anywhere. I'd assumed that he was just a little further away, maybe washing himself in the water, but I seemed to be alone. I stood up to get a better look around, taking in the blue spring, the green grass and the swaying palm trees. I was feeling just a little worried. Khai could take care of himself, of course, but it wasn't very like him to leave me all alone when I was sleeping. There were always thieves or monsters to think about. I could take care of myself as well, but he was a little over protective. The anxious feeling I'd been having increased as I realized something was off… There were also signs of him ever having been here. _

_There was a little dent in the dark sand where I'd been lying, showing where my body had moulded the sand, but the sand next to it was even and seemingly untouched, although I knew for certain that Khai had been there only a few hours ago. The tracks around the oasis also showed no proof of there having been another person here and I anxiously played with the ring on my finger, a nervous habit, as fear started to grow in my chest. Not fear for myself, but for Khai. Where was he?_

_There was no point looking around the oasis, I could feel that I was alone, and I was now certain that someone, or something, wanted me to believe that Khai had never been here. My chest tightened as I thought of what that implicated. Was Khai still alive? Was he hurt? By the gods if he was I'd make them pay… but who would do such a thing? I could only come up with one answer, and it enraged me even more. Any time something good happened to me they were always there to ruin it and take it from me! First Caleb, then my mother and now Khai. This time I wouldn't let them! _

_A fierce determination awakened in my chest as I shadow travelled back to camp. They'd help me find him there, they'd never let any harm come to him. Khai was one of their fiercest warriors, but more than that he was a friend, a kind soul who was always there and whom one could rely on. I wasn't the only one who loved Khai._

_I travelled straight into my tent, because most people didn't really like me popping up out of nowhere, only to find it completely changed. My belongings were nowhere to be seen, and whereas my tent had ben simple, with no decorations at all, just a bed and a chest for my clothes, it was now full of fluffy orange and red pillows and rich carpets. It smelled funny too, as if someone had dropped an entire box of perfumes in there, and rich golden goblets and plates were scattered all over the place. I doubled back, thinking that I'd gotten the wrong tent, but I was certain that I'd travelled correctly. I had long overcome the stage in which I'd appear in the wrong place. This was my tent…. So why did it look nothing like it?_

_An uneasy feeling began to stir in my gut, and a suspicion formed in my mind. First Khai, then my tent? What was their plan? I stepped outside of the tent and walked right into someone. _

_"Excuse me" I started and stopped when I looked up, only to see Khai starring down at me. Now I know that the usual reaction for a worried girlfriend would be to hug him and be relieved, but I immediately took a step back, bracing myself for confrontation. I wasn't convinced that the person before me was Khai at all… It could be an impostor._

_He made a noise of surprise, took a step back and went into his defensive stance, sizing me up. I looked at him and felt my heart clench in my chest. It wasn't the lack of a smile on his face, or the fact that he hadn't apologized, no it was the fact that he looked at me as if I were a complete stranger. A stranger who had attacked him and was thus a possible threat. Even if this person wasn't really Khai, the look on his face still hurt. _

_"Who are you?", he growled, his voice threatening and icy cold. I felt it pierce through me like a knife. The longer I looked at him, the more I grew certain that this was indeed Khai, my Khai… and that made his words hurt even more. I immediately knew that he wasn't joking, he'd never do that to me. He was dead serious. _

_"Khai… it's me… Kyra", I said it carefully, hesitantly and hopefully, although I already knew better. Someone was messing with me big time…Still I hoped that hearing my name, hearing me say his name, that that would somehow make him remember me. But it didn't. _

_He raised an eyebrow in surprise as I mentioned his name, looking me over more carefully, as if trying to figure out where he knew me from. His stance grew a little less aggressive, his shoulders relaxed a little and his voice lost some of its edge as he sized me up again, coming to the conclusion that I wasn't a real threat. It made me remember what he'd always said to me: "You don't look dangerous Kyra, and that's your advantage. People won't know what hit them." I felt my hear tighten again at the simple memory._

_"How do you know my name?", he asked, his voice softer now. He looked at me as if he was dealing with a confused little girl, which almost hurt me more than his look of hostility before. I turned away from him and looked around. A couple of people had come out of their tents and were looking at us now, people I knew well, people I loved, but they all looked as if they'd never seen me before in my life. Some looked hostile, some amused, and some plain confused, whispering to their neighbours and asking what was going on._

_Did no one here remember me? Was that even possible? I'd spoken to these people only a few hours ago, and now they all seemed to think me a stranger! I felt tears starting to form in my eyes and I clenched my fist, digging my nails into the balls of my hands. I would not cry. I looked back at Khai, my fists still clenched and my chin held high. Whatever was going on I would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me broken. I was stronger than that!_

_Khai, who had noticed that I was close to tears, held out his hand to put it on my shoulder, but I angrily swatted away. I didn't want him to pity me like a lost little girl. I wanted him to remember me! He looked at me in surprise and retracted his hand, his face hardening again as he regarded me. His eyes went pass me to the tent and suddenly his posture went back to being threatening._

_"What were you doing in that tent?" He asked with an edge in his voice that let me know, that saying it was mine would be a really bad idea. I had to play along until I figured out how to get out of this mess and make them remember me. This was my home now! They couldn't take that from me too!_

_I took a step back from him and his blue eyes, which always looked at me with warmth and tenderness, turned icy cold._

_"I… got lost… I was looking for you. I'm here to learn how to fight." Almost the exact same words I'd said to him only a year ago… Only a year? It felt so much longer and yet so much shorter since I'd been here, in this wonderful place._

_He regarded me one more time, arching one eyebrow as if to say that he didn't think I could fight. He'd thought so a year ago too and I'd proved him wrong. If I had to I'd do it again, I'd make him fall in love with me all over again. Yes, I thought with determination, that's what I'll do. And then he'll remember me._

_He seemed to believe me when a high pitched voice suddenly interrupted us._

_"Khai?", a girl, no older than 17, pushed her way through the crowd. She was rather tall, half a head taller than Khai, who wasn't all that tall, and at least two heads taller than me. She wore elaborate gowns, lined with gold threads, and rings on her arms that made annoying noises with each of her movements. She came to a stop next to Khai, an adoring look on her face that made me want to hit her, and then turned to me. Her face went from puppy love stricken to a nasty grimace so fast it made me take a step back. The expression on her face was one of pure hatred, evil and vile._

_"What is she doing here?", she spat, her voice like acid._

_I frowned in confusion. Did she know me? I'd never seen this girl in my life, I was sure that I'd remember her if I had. She was exactly the kind of girl that gave me anger management issues. Khai looked first at me and then her in surprise._

_"You know her?"_

_"Of course I know her! She's a vile thief who was cast out of our village for stealing. It was I who caught her, and she must have followed me here to extract her revenge! She's come to kill me!", she squeaked with fear so fake I nearly laughed. Then she hid behind Khai and I actually chuckled. A mistake as it seemed, as Khai immediately went into protective battle stance._

_"Is this true?" he asked, his voice suspicious, his hand on her shoulder. Was he caressing her with his thumb? A pang of jealousy coursed through me as I regarded them. What was going on? I felt like I was in a bad dream…_

_"Me? An assassin? Of course it's not true! I've never seen that girl before in my life." _

_I knew that I sounded hostile, but I couldn't help myself because…well… I was. I was pissed at the girl for accusing me, I was pissed at Khai for not remembering me, I was pissed at Khai for helping that stupid brat and I was pissed at the whole situation, but most of all I was pissed at the Gods. You're gonna pay for this, I thought up at the sky._

_"Don't trust her Khai", the girl said, her voice suddenly soft and velvety making me believe her. I shook my head to shake of the sensation… charmspeak… She was using some kind of charmspeak! And a very powerful one too… Khai's eyes glazed over and he grabbed my wrist, twisting it behind my back._

_"You're arrested for the attempted murder of Eris, princess the western nomads."_

_"I haven't done anything!" I exclaimed, but my voice cracked, making me sound pitiful. I looked around helplessly but was only met by the harsh stares of people who couldn't remember that they were my friends. This had to be a nightmare, it just had to be. I'd wake up and I'd be back in the oasis with Khai besides me._

_Khai twisted my arm further, making me cry out in pain._

_ "Don't lie to us. I saw you coming out of princess Eris tent." _

_"I'm not an assassin! I don't even know that girl! She's lying.. I don't know why, but she is", I yelled, tears now running down my face. "It's me Khai! Kyra! Remember me! Please please remember me", I said in-between sobs, painfully aware of the looks of disgust the people were giving me, but incapable of stopping. This just couldn't be true, it just couldn't be! _

_They tied me to a post outside of camp, as it was custom for criminals, and so I stood there in the blazing sun and cried. _


End file.
